


Gateway To Heaven

by EllanaSan



Category: Stargate - All Series, Stargate SG-1, The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Stargate, F/M, Post Season 3 AU, Season 4 AU, crack that isn't crack, no real knowledge of the stargate tv show required, some eventualy smut, some soulsearching, some wandering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-07-19 05:44:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7347526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllanaSan/pseuds/EllanaSan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wandering in the Dead Zone looking for a last miracle to save them from Alie's prophesize doomsday, the cohalition finds one of Earth's best hidden secrets. Burried under another mountain might just lie Earth's salvation. </p><p>Season 4 AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Exodus

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings and welcome to my first chaptered kabby story XD 
> 
> This was born out of a crack idea that the gang is screwed next season and that there aren’t many options left aside for finding a bunker or going back to space. OR finding the Stargate and getting the hell out of dodge. Of course, the crack idea turned serious and now here I am with a crossover that isn’t as much about space travel as it is about healing after the post Alie disaster and saving themselves. ^^ 
> 
> Aside for a basic notion of what the Stargate is (a big round circle that allows you to travel in space) I don’t think any real knowledge of the show is necessary since this a S4 AU and thus very much takes place in The 100 universe.  
> This is mainly a kabby story but it will feature bellarke and ice mechanic (because apparently I’m a sucker for this ship) with some memori on the side because come oooon how to resist? 
> 
> My Trigedasleng is still a work in progress so you will have to forgive me if you’re fluent ;) 
> 
> Thanks to my kabby girls (who will know who they are) for the encouragements to write crack that failed to be crack and above all thanks to Akachankami who is taking care of the beta reading duty.

The wound stung when Abby applied the disinfectant wipe on his shoulder. He had had enough of his share of injuries in the last year to know it wasn’t serious, nothing a few stitches wouldn’t fix.

The Dead Zone tribes used swords, knives and arrows. Their warriors hid buried in the sand and jumped on them when they least expected it. They scarcely ever attacked the main convoy, wary of the Ice Nation warriors guarding it, but they never hesitated to attack search parties and hunters or scouts.

They had tried to make peace with them but to no avail. Emori insisted there would be no discussing any ceasefire, that the Dead Zone had always belonged to those who were rejected or killed for their defects, that it had always been a safe haven for those people and that they wouldn’t allow Skaikru or Grounders to settle in the desert. Their land was the only thing they got and they would defend it with their last breath. The fact the tribes weren’t organized was working in their favor but it would only be a matter of time before they ran out of ammunition and lost their advantage.

The heat was still excruciating even under the shade of the main tent, the heavy fabric not enough to completely block the rays of the sun. Night would fall soon but would bring little relief. Heat would simply give way to a freezing cold.

“Am I doing the right thing?” he asked, searching Abby’s eyes.

She brushed her braid behind her shoulder with an impatient move to reach for the stitching kit. “What was the alternative? Staying behind and waiting for the first cancerous lesions to appear?”

Others had made that choice, had preferred to stay put and hope for the best, Jaha amongst them. When red tinged hues had started clouding the sky and Raven’s instruments had detected a dangerous rise in the radiation levels, Marcus had viciously argued they should _move_ , leave behind the wreckage of the Ark and find a place where the radiations were less high, _gain_ some time until they could figure something out…

There would be no miracle, of that Marcus was convinced. Raven had collected data for weeks while Bellamy and Clarke had led search parties of guards and Grounders alike for _anything_ that could help. Mount Weather would have been an option if it hadn’t been blown to smithereens. Now… Now it felt very much like grasping at straws.  

The Dead Zone was still unaffected and it had appeared like a good plan. Emori had volunteered to be their guide even though she had warned them their intrusion wouldn’t be welcomed, Indra had rallied most of Trikru, some Grounders had elected to follow Clarke since she was _Wanheda_ and was the last one to have ascended, half Azgeda had followed Roan, and three quarters of the Ark survivors had made the choice of following Marcus and Abby instead of staying with Jaha.

The convoy wasn’t as impressive as it should have been though. They had lost a lot of people to A.L.I.E and the City of Light in the first place, wandering in the desert for a whole month without rest and surprise attacks had lowered their numbers even more. By the last census, there were two hundred and sixty-four people amongst which a hundred elders and children for whom Abby wasn’t optimistic. They had been three hundred and fifty when they had started out.

It felt more and more like a death walk.

“ _Nay drop of wichnes nau.”_ Indra chided him quietly from where she was sitting against the pain pillar, sharpening her sword.

_Don’t doubt now…_

Easier said than done.

He didn’t know what he had been thinking when he had led them all into the desert, Clarke and Roan at his sides, the three of them being the last remnants of the coalition. That they would find a place to call home for a little while, perhaps. Or that they would find _something, somewhere._ He couldn’t believe they had been through all this only to find themselves right where they had started. Maybe he had been blinded by his needs for all of this to make sense, for the universe to be a place with _reason_ where things didn’t happen at random so unfairly…

Call him naïve but he wanted to _hope_.

Jaha had made the same mistake once when he had headed out to find his City of Light and they were all bearing the scars of his folly.

He thought about that often at night.

“Emori says she needs to talk to us.” Bellamy declared, ducking under the flap of the tent without announcing himself, shadowed by Clarke, Roan and Emori. Murphy sneaked in right after her but Marcus had long stopped protesting his crashing of meetings. For one, the boy had gained Clarke’s and Bellamy’s trust, for another he could understand the urge to make sure the woman he loved was within his sight at all times. It was a dangerous world out there.

“How’s the shoulder?” Roan asked.

“Stitched.” Abby replied for him, putting the needle and the surplus of thread away before covering the wound with a light compress that would allow the wound to breathe. “Try not to put sand in it this time. That goes for you too.”

That was directed at Roan who bowed at her. Marcus’ eyes trailed on the king’s bandaged hand while he put his shirt back on. By the time this was over, they would all be covered in scars. The _Sanskava_ , the people of the desert, seemed intent on finishing them off.

“ _Sha, Haiplana.”_ Roan offered with open amusement.

Abby simply rolled her eyes at the address, having gotten used to being referred to as a queen by most Grounders from the Ice Nation in the last months. Azgeda was a monarchy and didn’t recognize any other sort of government. The _Chancellor_ title meant little to them. As far as Roan and the rest of his people were concerned Abby was _Skaikrus Haiplana_ and Marcus was _Skaikrus Haihefa_ , to the other Grounders they were simply both _Skaikrus_ _heda_ – although they seemed puzzled by the shared power – and as for the people from the Ark, they had voted to follow Marcus but still called Abby Chancellor and so they had come to share the title without truly discussing it.

She took a seat in the circle the others had formed around a map Emori had brought. Marcus took his usual spot at her left.

“Where’s Raven?” he asked.

“Trying to make sure the rover doesn’t overheat again.” Clarke sighed.

Nobody had really decided who got to sit on the Council and who didn’t, it had come naturally. It was different from the meetings on the Ark. The chancellor didn’t get a final say in there because _this_ wasn’t a chancellorship. His words had no more swing than Clarke’s or Roan’s. Roan was King to his people and Clarke was Heda to those who wanted to follow her. Indra had no fancy title but it had been made clear her warriors followed _her_ and not Clarke. Bellamy spoke for what was left of the Hundred and Raven was their current radiation expert.

At the end of the day, they all took decisions together. It was sometimes rocky but they all knew they had to make it work if they wanted a chance at surviving. None of them would have a chance on their own in the desert.

“If we keep in that direction we will reach the edge of the Dead Zone in five days.” Emori stated, pointing at their location on the map. It was handmade and obviously old, she kept a jealous hold on it.

They had been walking away from Arkadia and its red clouds for more than a month, Marcus wasn’t surprised they were reaching the end of it. And he would have been lying if he had said he wasn’t relieved.

He was ready for anything _without_ sand.

“What’s beyond the Dead Zone?” Clarke asked, studying the map with a frown. The desert was detailed, with oasis, camps and markers but everything around it was left to a vague limbo. Emori had spent most of her life in the Dead Zone or on its edge and had few interest for what lied beyond.

“I don’t know.” Emori shrugged. “There are mountains, we would need to find a way through. I don’t think anyone ever tried to go that far.”

“Everything beyond the Dead Zone is dead.” Indra stated.

“Says who?” Murphy mocked. “If you never checked…”

“It might be worth a shot.” Marcus said.

“Raven says the Dead Zone is the safest place right now…” Abby remarked.

“We never scanned further, Mom.” Clarke countered. “With the drones, we could get an idea of what’s ahead and be sure it’s safe… There might be more bunkers… More people…”

Raven had reprogrammed what was left of ALIE’s drones and had modified them so they could record radiation levels with Monty’s help. So far it worked well enough.

“If the _Sanskava_ don’t shoot your drones out of the sky again.” Roan scoffed.

“Well, if you did a better job at keeping my drones safe, it wouldn’t happen, your useless Highness.” Raven declared, ducking under the flap of the tent.

“Your tongue is always so sweet, _rowen…”_ the Ice Nation’s king snorted.

The young woman ignored that, limping to her usual spot next to Bellamy. “What did I miss?”

“Kane and Clarke want to take a stroll into a dead _er_ Dead Zone.” Bellamy summed up, sounding nonplussed.

“Business as usual then.” Raven joked.

“Could you all be serious for a minute?” Abby chided them. “We need to decide if we’re moving forward with this.”

“Or what? We turn around and we wander at random some more?” Clarke scowled. “Let’s get closer to the border and see what the drones come up with. Maybe those mountains can offer some sort of protection.”

“Or maybe we will all die trying to get across and we will be trapped on the other side.” Bellamy offered.

“It’s not like there’s a point either way because in four months we will all be dead.” Murphy added.

Raven whistled “You’re all such bundles of joy.”

“Could we _focus_ for one minute?” Abby repeated with a sigh.

“I think Clarke is right.” Marcus cut in. “We should keep moving west and see what the drones come back with. If the mountains are safe for now… We should explore, see if there is anywhere safer than the desert.”

“I’m in for that.” Clarke nodded.

Bellamy rolled his eyes and shrugged. “I could use more mountains and less sand.”

“I can program the drones but Muscles’ guys better make sure nobody shoots them this time.” Raven shrugged.

“I’ll make sure my warriors operate to your satisfaction, _rowen_.” Roan retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“I will send Octavia with them.” Indra offered.

Bellamy bristled but kept silent when Clarke placed a distracted hand on his arm. Marcus hesitated too but eventually decided to follow Bellamy’s lead on that front. Octavia… Since she had killed Pike, Octavia was withdrawn. The only person she truly talked to was Indra. The girl was focused on her training and little else. She lived with the Trikru tribe and not with the Arkers… He had tried to talk to her when it became obvious Bellamy wasn’t getting through but she had made it clear she didn’t want any of his pep talks.

“Abby?” Marcus prompted.

Abby pursed her lips and took a deep breath, studying the map. “I suppose scanning the surroundings can do no harm.”

“We all agree then?” he asked.

“Chancellor?” a guard called out before lifting the flap of the tent. When both Marcus and Abby looked up, the guy made a face. “Chancellor Griffin, you’re needed in Medical, Ma’am.”

Abby stood up and followed the guard out without adding anything. Roan and Raven left exchanging some not so nice banter, Indra followed after them rolling her eyes at their antics.

The kids lingered. 

“It’s getting confusing. The chancellor thing.” Bellamy observed. “Which of you is the real one?”

“Maybe the Ice Cube King has a point with the queen and king thing.” Murphy snorted. “Plus, it goes hand in hand with Clarke’s princess nickname.”

“Don’t disrespect Roan.” Marcus rebuked, not quite glaring at the kid but making sure to look serious enough. “We haven’t had a diplomatic incident yet and I would rather keep it this way.”

“Raven disrespects him on a daily basis.” Murphy pointed out.

“The difference is he _likes_ it coming from _her_.” Bellamy retorted. “He won’t hesitate to gut _you_ for it.”

Truth be told, _even_ _Marcus_ had noticed Roan seemed sweet on Raven. Even his habit of calling her _rowen_ , the grounder word for raven, marked her apart from the rest of them.

“Let him try.” Emori snorted, flinging her arm around Murphy’s shoulders.

“We’re a democracy not a monarchy.” Marcus butted in. “I don’t want any of _our_ people calling us queen or king. Don’t put that into anyone’s head.”

Not that he believed anyone would go for it. The kids could have their fun with it – some of them _already_ had their fun with it – but he didn’t want anyone getting _ideas_. Understandably, not everyone was happy with their trekking in the sand and it seemed far more tempting to behead a King than to deposit a Chancellor. The last thing they needed was a coup.

“They’re joking, Kane. _Relax_.” Clarke sighed. “Nobody’s going to bow to you or Mom anytime soon.”

“Says _the great_ Wanheda. It’s not like your Grounders bow to _you_ , right?” Bellamy mocked in a low voice that warranted him a punch in the shoulder.

“We would need to marry you.” Murphy went on, looking at Marcus with an openly mocking face. “We can’t have an unmarried Queen and King… Not that anyone really knows what’s going on on that front… Our Chancellors are _awfully_ close-mouthed about it.”

Clarke’s eyes snapped to him and this time Marcus glared. “If you don’t want to finish the trip in the brig, I would advise you to watch your tongue.”

Murphy held his eyes for a moment and then pouted before giving him a mock bow and a very ironical “ _Sha, Haihefa.”_

It was as disrespectful as it got and Marcus had half a mind to have him arrested anyway but Emori bumped the boy’s shoulder with hers. “ _Nau gon op em.”_

_Stop provoking him_. A wise advice he hoped Murphy would have the good sense to follow. He didn’t want to be as harsh as he used to be in the past but he couldn’t tolerate disrespect when they were surrounded by Grounders who only understood strength.

Clarke was still looking at him and he ducked out of the tent without another word and stopped right there for a second, dizzied by the beating heat. He didn’t know what Clarke knew although he figured she _suspected_. The crux of the matter was… _He_ didn’t quite know what there was to know or suspect. After ALIE, they had spent their time looking for a solution while licking their respective wounds, coming to term with what had happened to them, and after that… After that Marcus had led them on a wild goose chase in the desert.

Were there kisses sometimes? Yes.

Did they sleep close by? Yes.

Were they still leading together? Also yes.

But aside for that, there hadn’t been any talk or progress in their relationship and he was too much of a coward to ask for a conversation that would be taxing when she looked so exhausted all the time. He was hoping things would flow naturally. He was big on that lately: hope. Or at least he tried to be.

“You shouldn’t talk to him like that.” Bellamy’s voice trailed from inside the tent, both reproachful and annoyed.

“Oh, come on…” Murphy scoffed. “Like being king isn’t all Kane ever wanted.”

“He changed.” Clarke snapped. “He’s not the same man he was on the Ark.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night to deal with your new stepdad…” Murphy mocked.

There was a scuffle inside, Bellamy clearly stepping in between two people.

Marcus didn’t stay to know how it would play out.

He spent the time before dinner helping out around the temporary camp as much as he could and then when the sky turned dark and the temperature dropped, he built a campfire near the main tent and started the long and painful task of roasting a piece of the two lizards they had brought back from their hunt. Emori called them _skeiliz_ , to him they looked a bit like small sand crocodiles. It was hard to get to the flesh under the scales but the meat was good once roasted. They had gotten two that day before the nomads had attacked.

He felt the presence at his back and slowly adjusted his grip on his knife. The blood from the meat made his palm slippery and by the time he turned around, the Ice Nation’s king was already very much in his space with a smug smile on his lips.

“ _Seintaim slog_.” Roan commented with a shrug before translating. “Too slow.”

“I shot you once.” Marcus grumbled, sitting back down and going back to his cooking.

“Yes, and I still owe you for that.” the King chuckled, taking a seat next to him. “Don’t you have servants? What sort of king does his own cooking?”

“I’m not a king.” he shrugged. “And I don’t mind the work.”

Roan shook his head at him but remained silent while Marcus worked. He hadn’t been sure about the man at first, their track record with the Ice Nation was less than stellar and he _had_ shot him while under ALIE’s influence. It was Clarke who had insisted on keeping him in the fast fading coalition and it was also Clarke who had convinced him to leave his kingdom behind to follow them.

Roan, Marcus had quickly found out, was a clever man, _patient,_ and willing to do what it took for the good of his people. From what he had seen so far, Roan was a good leader. He hadn’t expected to befriend the Ice Nation’s King but that had happened somewhere along the line in the last month.

They shared the meat while they talked about how best to protect the drones. It was almost peaceful. Campfires had popped all around, lighting the night with pale flickering reddish glows that projected shadows on the dunes, now and then horses neighed and commands were called either in English or in Trigedasleng.

It was _almost_ peaceful and it was _almost_ easy to pretend they were safe.

It was late by the time Abby showed up, her face set in sorrow. Most of the other campfires had been put out already. Roan left with a quiet goodnight as soon as she had sat down.

“Bad day?” Marcus asked, pushing the plate with the now lukewarm meat he had kept for her in her hands. She had a tendency to forget to eat and drink when she was focused on her patients.

“We lost a patient.” she sighed, reaching for the flask of water on his other side and taking a long sip before starting to distractedly pick at the meat. “An elder Grounder. This heat…”

They did their best but water and food resources were few. The more fragile people were the worst off.

“I’m sorry.” he offered sincerely.

She shook her head and mustered a small smile. “Thank you for keeping some food for me.”

“Hey, I almost got an arrow in the shoulder for this, you might as well eat some.” he joked, trying to diffuse the tension.

Her smile grew more genuine, _fonder_. “Did you pop my stitches yet?”

“No.” he declared proudly. “I followed my doctor’s orders and took it easy.”

“Miracles _do_ happen then.” she teased.

She didn’t eat nearly enough, her plate was still half full when she passed it to a Grounder child who wandered past their campfire but it was Abby in a nutshell and he didn’t comment. He leaned back on his hands and looked at the stars. Even after all this time on Earth, they still looked unfamiliar, _different_ from what he was used to.

“If we could go back up there, would you?” she asked softly, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“If we could and it was the only option to keep our people alive… Probably.” he sighed, gathering a handful of sand in his hand and letting it slip through his fingers. “But I’m not sure I could ever get used to it again.”

“Me neither.” she agreed. “It would feel like living in a box.”

“It _always_ felt like living in a box.” he commented. They hadn’t grown up in the same parts of the Ark. He came from the bottom, she had always lived on top. He chased those memories away. There was no more Ark anyway. “You don’t think trying for the mountains is a good idea.”

She had agreed earlier but he could tell she had reservations.

“It’s not that.” she countered. “If it’s still livable, yes, I think we should try. If anything… It will give everyone something to do, something to hope for. It’s better than staying here, getting shot at, waiting for the wind to turn and the sky to glow red.”

“You don’t think we will find anything.” he said.

“Do you?” she replied.

“I don’t know.” he confessed, resting his head on hers.


	2. The Wilderness Wandering

Being in the rover in the middle of the day very much felt like being in a pot full of water over a fire. Even with the windows rolled down and her jacket discarded in the back, Abby was cooking alive in her tank top.

“Remind me why I am doing this again?” she asked the young woman on the passenger seat who was tinkering with three tablets at the same time.

“Because I can’t drone and drive and I need your medical expertise.” Raven shrugged, not looking away from the screens. “Try not to overheat the engine. I like this car.”

The Rover was at the end of the convoy and it was so slow going that the Ice Nation warriors tasked with escorting and defending it were walking faster than the car. The back was loaded with medical equipments and emergency rations plus some of Raven’s tools, everything that wouldn’t fit on the Grounders’ carts.

From there, looking at the long line of people, horses and carts, it looked very much like an exodus to her.

“I don’t know how to drive.” she countered for the sake of the argument.

“You’re doing it right now.” Raven retorted, tapping on one of the screens. “I’ve got a visual on the end of the desert. It seems like they _finally_ took their thumbs out of…”

“How are the readings?” she interrupted her before something vulgar could pass the young woman’s lips.  

“Normal.” the mechanic declared after tinkering some more with her tablet. “Levels are higher than in the desert but not dangerous. I’ll try to push further. _If_ Octavia and King Useless can keep anyone from shooting them…”

Abby waited a couple of minutes and then cleared her throat. “About Roan…”

“Don’t even start.” Raven cut her off, rolling her eyes. “If you’re one of those who are deluded enough to think I’m interested…”

“I’ve seen him shirtless.” Abby offered. “It would be hard not to be _a little bit_ interested.”

The younger woman cocked her eyebrow, looking at her with a mocking smile. “Kane knows you’re ogling other guys?”

“There’s nothing wrong in _looking_. Beside he’s too young for me.” she argued. She hesitated a minutes before clearing her throat again. “And it’s not like… Marcus and I are a _complicated_ story.”

“Oh, oh. Trouble in paradise.” Raven chuckled. “Give me the gossip.”

“There’s no gossip.” she mumbled and when her friend gave her _a look_ , she winced. “Literally. There’s _no_ gossip. _Nothing_ ’s happening. At all.”

She dearly hoped the Ice Nation warriors weren’t listening in to their conversation. She could feel herself flushing and it had nothing to do with the suffocating heat.

“You mean you haven’t…” Raven let her question trail off and Abby sighed.

“It’s as dead as this desert.” she confessed.

The tablet on the mechanic’s knees beeped and she quickly tapped in a steady rhythm to fix whatever was wrong with the drone but it wasn’t enough to take her mind off what Abby had just told her. “Have you tried jumping him?”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “Last time I did that I was controlled by ALIE. I don’t want… I don’t want to bring back any bad memories.”

 “And _he_ never tried anything?” Raven insisted, sounding doubtful.

He had kissed her three times and it had always been either a goodbye or _a sand nomad almost killed me_ kind of kiss. She had kissed him a few times out of the blue and he had responded every time but it had never led further than that. To be fair, it was hard to find moments. They were always needed somewhere, people always interrupted them, and there was few privacy to be had in a nomadic camp with tents that weren’t quite soundproof. Some people _clearly_ didn’t have any problem with that but she wasn’t sure she would have managed it.

“It’s never the right time.” she sighed. “Being Chancellor isn’t half as funny as people think it is.”

“Heavy lies the crown…” Raven taunted.

“Speaking of _crowns_ …” Abby shot the mechanic a pointed look.

It was Raven’s turn to sigh, clearly exasperated with the subject.

“You’re as bad as your daughter.” the younger woman accused.

“I’ve seen the way you look at him.” she insisted. “You like him.”

“He’s not bad to look at, that’s it.” Raven conceded.

“Raven…” Abby said in her best mom voice.

“Ice Nation blew up Mount Weather, did you forget?” Raven snapped. “I was there. _My friends_ were there. And not only are my friends dead but Mount Weather would have been _our best bet_ right now so… You will excuse me if I’m not thrilled about being best friends with their King. We’re not all as forgiving as Kane.”

She bypassed her instinctive urge to defend Marcus’ actions but it was hard to hide the annoyance in her voice. “It wasn’t Roan’s doing. It was his mother’s.” She waited a second and then shrugged. “Clarke likes him.”

Not that her daughter had said so in as many words but Abby had gotten that feeling from her. Clarke and Roan were friends or they, at least, respected each other very much, Marcus had befriended the King too albeit more reluctantly, even Bellamy seemed to like him well enough, Octavia didn’t mind his company and she didn’t tolerate a lot of people nowadays. As for her… Abby must admit she _liked_ Roan too despite his habit to tease her by calling her _Haiplana_. From what she had seen, he could be cold and hard when the situation required it but he was a fair ruler.

“Well, Clarke’s welcome to take him then.” Raven snorted. “She can be Queen. This way it doesn’t leave the family.”

“Ha, ha.” Abby deadpanned. “That’s very funny. Hasn’t the joke gotten old yet?”

“Give it another ten years.” the mechanic snorted. “Assuming we live that long, of course. The drones are almost out of range. I’m going to call them back. I should go with them next time, I could push the drones further.” Abby’s eyes darted to Raven’s leg. There was a reason the mechanic kept to the rover and it wasn’t simply to stop the engine from overheating. Raven followed her gaze and rolled her eyes. “I’ll take a horse.”

“I’m not sure…” Abby winced.

“So you don’t think I can ride a horse but you think I should ride a king, is that it?” Raven scoffed. “I’m _fine_ , Abby.”

She truly wasn’t but they didn’t have the equipment or the luxury of trying to make it better so Abby held her tongue and asked her about the readings and the data she had collected.

It wasn’t until they started setting camp for the night that Raven briefed them about what her drones had found out. There wasn’t much to go by yet and it was decided to send another scouting party with drones the next day.

Predictably enough, Raven insisted on going.

So naturally, Abby declared she would go with her.

“No way.” Marcus refused. “I’ll go.”

“Unless you became a doctor during the night without telling me, no, you’re not.” Abby answered calmly. “Besides, your shoulder isn’t healed yet and I am _not_ redoing those stitches.”

“You’re _not_ going out there, Abby.” he affirmed as if it was already decided.

She noted that Bellamy was _very_ focused on getting a speck of dirt from under his nail, Indra’s face was as blank as usual but she was looking at Marcus almost with sympathy, Raven was wincing, Roan was carefully staying out of it and Clarke, _of course_ , took Marcus’ side.

“Mom, it’s not safe out there.” 

“I’m not suggesting Raven and I take off by ourselves. We will bring guards.” she countered as if it was settled.

“No.” Marcus said again.

“I am not asking for your permission here.” she snapped. “Raven shouldn’t ride for so long. I am going with my patient.”

“It’s nice to feel like the burden in the group, thanks.” Raven deadpanned.

“I’ll go.” Clarke suggested.

“Yes, Clarke will go.” Marcus agreed too quickly.

Abby glared at him. “I thought it was too dangerous. It is too dangerous _for me_ but not for _my daughter_?”

“Your daughter can fight.” he replied. “She won’t be a sitting duck.”

“I am going with Raven.” she insisted. “I’m her doctor. Not Clarke.”

Marcus was glaring too now but Abby didn’t let that disturb her. In the end, he lifted his hands in a helpless gesture. “If you’re so bent on risking your life, I’m coming with you.”

“Both chancellors at once?” Bellamy cut in, making a face as if he was already regretting getting involved. “Not on my watch.”

“Good thing it _isn’t_ your watch.” Marcus retorted. “I’m still _elected_ Chancellor if anyone cares. _I’_ m in charge.”

“Not with this shoulder, you aren’t.” Abby stated. “This is _stupid_. We will have Octavia and Ice Nation warriors with us. We will be _fine_.”

“I will personally escort _Skaikrus Haiplana_ and Raven.” Roan declared. He had been silent until then, observing rather than giving his opinion. “They will be safe with me, Kane.”

Marcus clearly wasn’t happy with that compromise but refusing now risked offending Azgeda and so he had no choice but to nod his assent.

Abby wasn’t happy either. She understood he was worried about her but she didn’t like him trying to _impose_ his decisions on her. She had thought they had moved past that.

She remained in the medical tent that night and ignored most of Jackson’s tactful probing on the issue. She was irritated to realize when she settled down to sleep that she couldn’t remember the last time she hadn’t shared a tent with Marcus. The absence of his even breathing next to her kept her awake most of the night.

They were set to leave before sunset and Abby wasn’t in the best mood when she joined the group of Grounders next to the neighing horses, her medical bag over her shoulder. Octavia gave her a brief nod and led her to a black horse already saddled and ready to go. Not too far, Raven was busy piling equipment in the saddlebag of her own horse while Octavia checked on the drones.

The camp was starting to wake and people were already getting busy so the place was noisy. Abby scratched her horse between the eyes and sent a silent prayer for Octavia to have chosen a calm one because she certainly wasn’t an expert with horses. She discreetly eyed Raven when the mechanic placed a hand on the saddle and seemed to contemplate the best way to actually get _up_ on her horse. Abby knew with her leg she would never manage it by herself but she didn’t want to rush to her help before Raven realized that – she would resent her meddling but she might tolerate her help.

She held her breath when Raven placed her good foot in the saddle’s leather buckle, not sure she would manage to pass her injured her leg on the other side of the horse. She didn’t have time to even call out to her friend to be careful.

Suddenly, Roan was there, hands on Raven’s hips, propping her up with a simple instruction to _push_. Raven did so automatically and it was only once she was on top of her horse that she looked down at him with annoyance, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“I don’t need your help.” the young woman spat.

“You could have fooled me.” Roan chuckled before walking away to his own horse, leaving Raven to glare at him.

At least, Abby thought, with those two providing most of the entertainment nobody would be bored during the trip.

With a sigh, she grabbed the saddle and put her foot in the buckle, hopping in place when the horse stepped aside. A hand appeared in her line of sight and she took it by reflex, using it to prop herself up. 

She wasn’t surprised to find Marcus there, not exactly, but it was nice to know he wouldn’t let her leave while they were still angry at each other.

“I still think you’re taking unnecessary risks.” he said, petting the neck of her horse. “I don’t like you going out there without me.”

“One of us needs to stay behind. Besides, Roan will have my back.” she affirmed with more confidence than she felt.

“I will.” Roan shot across the distance that separated them. “Your Queen will be back in one piece, Kane, I promise.”

Marcus rolled his eyes. “Abby’s not _my_ Queen.”

“Maybe you should work on that, then.” the Ice King smirked, urging his horse onward, his warriors following after him.

“ _Now_ his useless highness is making sense.” Raven grinned.

Even Octavia smiled in obvious amusement. “Get your _shit_ together, Kane.”

“I don’t think _anyone_ remembers Chancellors are supposed to be _respected_ anymore.” Marcus shouted after them when they followed the rest of the group.

Abby waited until they were out of earshot to clear her throat, keeping her eyes averted. “I’ll be careful, don’t worry about me. Keep an eye on Clarke for me.”

“I always do.” he sighed.

“I know.” she smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder. She leaned in on a whim but he immediately stretched his neck to receive the kiss. It was a bit clumsy because of the height difference and it was awkward because she could feel a few eyes on them but she was still smiling when she sat back straight on her saddle. “May we meet again.”

“We will.” he replied firmly.

She looked back over her shoulder as the horse trotted to join the others. He stood there watching her until she disappeared from view.

For a while, they rode in silence. Roan led the way as, she figured, was royal protocol, and she and Raven rode in the middle of a circle of his warriors while Octavia came and went, scouting the way only to fall back behind them and make sure they weren’t being followed.

Abby kept tossing Raven worried glances but Raven never called for a stop, not even when her brow became clammy with perspiration that had little to do with the heat and more to do with the pain that was making her clench her jaw.

It was a long time before Roan slowed down his horse enough to ride alongside the both of them. 

“Tell me, _rowen_ …” the King asked in his usual teasing tone. “Is it a _Skaikru_ woman trait to make men fool of themselves for their attention?”

“Most guys would say it’s just a woman thing.” Raven hissed, gritting her teeth.

“It runs particularly strong in your Queen’s family.” he insisted, prompting Abby to glare at him over Raven’s shoulder. Roan laughed, unapologetic. “You cannot deny it is true, _Haiplana_. Your daughter seems to enjoy making Bellamy run after her. As for Kane…”

“Do _I_ comment on your private life, Roan?” she snapped.

“I’m not sure you’ve got much room to talk.” Raven retorted at the same time. “We’re far enough. We can stop. I’ll set up the drones.”

Abby helped her down the horse and tried not to hover too much over her shoulder while she worked, still discreetly insisting until she agreed to take some painkillers.

Abby was sunburned by the time they were ready to head back and desperately tried to cool her temperature down by wrapping a wet piece of cloth around her head.

Everything had gone too well.

So _naturally_ they were attacked.

Raven’s horse reared up and she didn’t have enough strength in her thighs to keep herself saddled. She fell.

“Raven!” Abby screamed, ready to jump from her own horse to get to her.

_“Okteivia! Shil op yu haiplana!”_ Roan shouted.

Before Abby could do anything like tell the girl to ignore the king’s order to protect her, Octavia was there, grabbing the reigns of her horse and telling her to hold on… They forced their way through the group of _Sandskava_ warriors, Octavia’s sword slashing left and right until there were no more enemies.

Abby kept telling her to _stop_ but Octavia made the horse gallop straight into the convoy. People had probably seen them coming because there was a welcoming committee.

“Mom!” Clarke exclaimed with relief at the same time Bellamy asked “Where’s Raven?”

Then there were shouts and calls and a lot of pointing at the puffs of sand in the distance.

“ _Azhefa!_ ” a Grounder identified.

And surely enough, a few minutes later, Roan’s horse arrived, flanked by his warriors. Raven was sitting in front of him on the saddle, looking less than pleased to owe him her life.

“I told you I would keep them safe, did I not?” Roan challenged.

And it was only then that Abby realized Marcus was holding the reins of her horse and that his hand was on her leg. He nodded at the King as Roan guided his horse further down the convoy despite Raven’s protests and numerous demands for him to _let her down._

“Are you alright?” Marcus asked.

“I’m fine.” Abby said, her voice a little shaky. She would _never_ get used to being attacked like that. “Help me down, please.”

He held out his arms and she used his shoulders as support, careful not to put too much weight on his injured one, but she still ended up sliding against him less than gracefully, her legs weak from the adrenaline rush. He kept her steady. She leaned against his chest, granting herself a moment to _breathe_.

“I’ll take care of the horse.” Bellamy mumbled awkwardly.

She startled, feeling guilty for even forgetting about the rest of the kids. Clarke was looking at them with an unreadable expression on her face but she soon nodded and followed after Bellamy. Abby breathed out slowly, feeling somehow better with Marcus’ arms around her.

The convoy was still advancing at a snail pace around them.

“Are you _sure_ you’re alright?” he frowned.

“Yes.” she promised, placing a hand on his chest and drawing back a little. “Raven got enough data. She says it will be safe to move west for now.”

“Then we move west.” he decided.

She wasn’t sure there was a choice anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know!


	3. The Burning Bush

Marcus rubbed his face, wishing he could rub the exhaustion away with it. Octavia was perched on the hood of the rover, he joined her without truly thinking about it. The engine was still hot and it was a welcomed source of warmth.

The mountains were cold, always cold. Their breaths puffed in white clouds in front of their mouth at any hour of the day and frost often covered the tents during the night. They hadn’t found snow yet and they were hoping it would remain that way. Making their way across was slow going as it was. The rover and the carts were the real difficulty, it would have been easier to leave them behind but they couldn’t afford the loss of supplies it would imply.

“They should stop wasting time.” Octavia said after a while, out of the blue.

He had been watching the camp settling down for the night, their number now even more reduced. They had lost people to the cold – or they had chosen to believe it was only the weather – a few had never woken up in the morning. A few more had started showing signs of cancerous lumps and lesions. It was quicker for some than others. The convoy was down to around two hundred and fifty people now.

Another month gone and they were no closer to finding a solution.

Radiation levels had started to increase but they had not reached critical yet.

“Who?” he asked. 

“All of them.” she shrugged.

He followed her gaze to where Raven and Roan were arguing a little aside from the main campfires. Azgeda’s King clearly won that round because Raven didn’t shrug the fur cloak he forced on her shoulders. The Ice Nation was right at home in the mountains and Marcus had thought more than once they were lucky to have them in the coalition.

He spotted Bellamy and Clarke next, sitting around another fire with Jasper, Monty, Harper and a few other kids. Their campfire was lively at least. Jokes were being exchanged, laughter sometimes rang in the night, cups were being passed around full of what he suspected to be illegal moonshine… Bellamy and Clarke weren’t as joyful as the rest of them though. They were sitting close together, too close for mere friends really, even under the pretense of sharing warmth. They shared looks that lasted too long but kept their hands in their respective lap and made sure to never touch each other.

At times like that, he remembered they were so young still.

“It’s not that easy for some people.” he countered slowly.

“When I met Lincoln, I knew.” Octavia said harshly, almost like a reproach, as if he should have known better. “Do you believe in soulmates?”

He took a deep breath and pondered the question, lifting his eyes to the dark night sky ahead. The stars were bright still. “I don’t know.”

“Anyway.” she scoffed, clearly annoyed by her own display of sentimentality. “If I were them and I still had him, I wouldn’t waste a second. We’ll be dead in three months. So what the hell?”

He remembered a space station about to run out of air and a fierce moment of revelation, as he crawled in a maintenance shaft, that he _couldn’t_ bear to lose Abby Griffin. He remembered the couple of days after that, the attempts at _keeping to normal_ even though everyone knew they were doomed. He remembered watching her from afar and wondering if he should say something or stay silent. He remembered wondering if regrets were worse than the rejection that was sure to occur.

No…

Being about to die didn’t make it easier to drop all defenses and confront love.

“Don’t think like that.” he chided her. “We will find a way.”

She shot him a look that clearly meant she didn’t buy it. He wasn’t sure anybody was buying it anymore. They were walking because there was nothing else to do. They were running from an invisible enemy that was closing on them from every side.

There would probably be no winning.

But that didn’t mean they should lose hope.

“We will.” he insisted. “People survived it before. We can do it too.”

Octavia stared at him and shrugged. “I’m okay with dying. I’ve got nothing to lose.”

“You have a brother.” he reminded her.

“ _Natrona.”_ she spat.

“He betrayed us, yes.” Marcus stated. “But I think he made up for it. He earned our forgiveness and our trust, Octavia.”

“Yours maybe.” she retorted, stubborn to the last. “Not mine.”

“It’s been three months.” he said gently.

“It could be three years.” she snapped, shaking her head. “Lincoln is dead. My heart died with him.”

He opened his mouth to protest, to tell her to give it time and then closed it again because he didn’t want to make her feel like he was belittling her loss. He missed Lincoln too but the grief had lessened. They had lost so many people during Pike’s chancellorship and ALIE’s attack that it was either moving on from the grief or letting it consume them. Marcus had chosen to move on, for the good of their people if anything else. He couldn’t be selfish, couldn’t collapse on himself when people needed him.

It was Abby who had insisted he should run for Chancellor again, Abby who had refused the pin that legally fell back on her once Pike had died, Abby who had held him when he couldn’t look at himself in the mirror… He had done his best to help her too, to stop the self-loathing and the guilt from destroying her…

They had survived.

 _Together_ , they had survived.

He wasn’t sure he would have made it that far without her and, on that front, he could understand Octavia.

“Don’t stay out in the cold too late.” he instructed her, hopping from the hood. “I don’t want to find an ice cube when I wake up.”

“You would miss me _so_ _much_.” she joked.

“I really would.” he answered without the slightest trace of humor, resting a hand on her shoulder. “You may have nothing to lose but _I_ don’t want to lose you.”

She squeezed his stiff fingers with a small smile and then let go. He forced himself not to look back as he walked away. He bypassed several campfires, hesitated a little when he spotted Abby sitting with Jackson, Nyko and a few other healers, a steaming cup of something in her hands, but eventually kept on walking until he reached the tent he was sharing with her when she wasn’t forced to spend the night in Medical. They were low on everything by now and it was more about patient care than actually treating people. It killed her to be so helpless, he knew, but there weren’t many medicinal plants to be found out there.

He laid down on the pallet and buried himself under the fur blanket, staring at the tent’s ceiling in the dark. His body was ready for sleep, aching in all sort of places from the daily walk, but his mind refused to shut down.

It was maybe half an hour before the flap was lifted and she stepped inside. She startled when she spotted him and he wondered where she had thought he had disappeared to. She recovered quickly though, making sure the flap was stuck and wouldn’t move with the icy night wind, before sitting back on her knees to look at him.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

There was a touch of fear in her voice she didn’t need to explain. He shared it, that fear, that she would wake up one day feeling sick or that one of the kids would start showing syndromes. Sickness was synonymous of death right now.

“I’m fine.” he said. “I’m just contemplating.”

She breathed out a sigh of relief and crawled closer, kicking off her boots and slipping on another pair of socks over the ones she was already wearing. “Contemplating what?”

“Life, death and regrets.” he snorted because it sounded a bit ridiculous.

“Vast program.” she chuckled. “You should have confiscated some of Jasper and Monty’s latest moonshine bash we don’t officially know about.”

“Believe it or not, I thought about it.” he teased as she slipped under the fur and immediately snuggled against his side. He shifted to accommodate her, wrapping his arm around her and letting her rest her head on his shoulder.

“What regrets?” she asked.

He pushed her hair back with his free hand, tucking the loose strands that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear.

“Not kissing you enough.” he hummed. “Not telling you…”

He hesitated, brought back to the maintenance shaft and his painful realization, brought back to Mount Weather and the earth shattering _dread_ of watching her get tortured right in front of him, brought back to that moment when he was still under ALIE’s control where he had felt her leave the COL and the terrible seconds after waking up when he had thought, amongst everything else, that she was dead.    

Her cold fingers trailed down his cheek, stopping at the edge of his beard. He had shaved not long after they had left the desert behind, just to remember what it felt like, but it had grown back. Her eyes were searching but soft, _knowing_.

“I love you.” he said and it wasn’t difficult, it wasn’t a _big deal_ because it was _so obvious_ , so painfully obvious… “I don’t think I ever loved anyone as much as I love you. And if we don’t make it… If we die… I need you to know. You made my life better. You made _me_ better. And it was worth it. Everything was worth it just for this, for you.”

Her eyes were bright in the semi darkness and he felt more than he saw a tear rolling down her cheek. He brushed it away with his thumb. She laughed a half broken laugh, coiling her fingers around his wrist and turning her head just enough to press a kiss on his wrist.

“I love you.” she answered, her voice rough. “But I don’t want goodbyes, Marcus. I can’t lose you.”

He suspected she _could_. She would survive his loss. For Clarke. And he would probably survive hers for the kids. But it would be less of a life. On that point, he could understand Octavia.

“There’s something else I would regret not doing.” he confessed, licking his lips.

She smiled, leaning in to steal a kiss. “I was starting to think you weren’t interested.”

He knew she had been waiting for this. He had been too. But when they weren’t interrupted they were exhausted from the day’s walk and their respective jobs. Often, he was asleep as soon as he lied down, simply happy to feel her warm body curled up against his. Thoughts of doing more than that had been strong but the will of following through had been fleeting. 

“I’m _very much_ interested, something always gets in the way.” he protested, his hand wandering under the fur and up her shirt.

It wasn’t how he wanted to do this. It was too cold to completely undress without risking catching something, there were hard pebbles poking out through the thin pallet and the noises from the rest of the camp were drifting by. Every time he had let himself think about doing this, it had involved him taking his time with her, preferably on a bed, and worshiping her until she begged for release. He had wanted this to be good, _special_ , not a quick thing on the hard ground in a badly insulated tent.

They kissed and it turned hungry but Marcus refused to hurry, he rolled on her a little, his hand still exploring under her shirt, pushing up her bra to access her breasts… Her hands were on his back and side, inching his own shirt up but not making any move to take it off. He wanted to kick the fur away, to _look_ at her… He resisted the temptation. It was too cold.

His mouth trailed down her jaw when she arched her back, pushing her breast in his hand… He sucked the spot right under her jaw line, wishing he could be sucking on her nipple instead…

“Marcus…” she breathed out, her hand leaving his torso for his pants. She was quick at popping the button and undoing the zipper and she was quicker in slipping her hand in his underwear.

He groaned against her neck, his hips bucking in answer to her touch… He dropped hot kisses on her neck, traced his way back to her mouth and just like that they were kissing again. It was messy in all the right ways. She stroked him slowly but with an obvious purpose, teasing him to the point he could do nothing but grip her hip and drop his head on her shoulder.

“Mom!” Clarke’s voice echoed in the night.

Marcus was pushed to the side without ceremony while she tugged her bra and shirt back into place, just in time for the tent to be unceremoniously opened and Clarke’s blonde head to slip through. He remained carefully under the furs. If she noticed anything was amiss, Clarke didn’t let on but, to be fair, she looked too worried to notice anything. “Raven slipped and hurt her leg.”

Abby cursed and hurried to put her boots back on before rushing after her daughter. Marcus waited until he was sure there was no audience before zipping up his pants and putting on his own boots. Good thing it was so cold, a couple of minutes were enough to be presentable.

He caught up with the girls easily not too far from Medical. He expected to hear Raven shouting protests about being okay but it was obvious she was _not_. She was deathly pale in Bellamy’s arms, her jaw clenched and tears of pain were rolling down her cheeks. Her face crumpled when he placed her on the makeshift examination table.

Nyko ushered everyone out. There was quite a crowd of worried people and Kane ordered everyone back to where they should be, not quite surprised when Bellamy and Clarke stubbornly remained behind.

“She slipped on an icy patch.” Bellamy sighed. “I _told_ her to be careful…”

Marcus squeezed his shoulder but there wasn’t much else to say or do so they waited, sometimes pacing to fight the cold and sometimes stomping their feet to bring back some feelings in their toes. It was at least an hour before Abby walked out, wordlessly holding the flap open so Bellamy and Clarke could step through.

“I gave her something for the pain, she’s going to be drowsy. Let her get some rest.” she instructed. The kids scampered inside and she turned to him, her face closed and set in worry. “I don’t have a lot of painkillers left.”

“Is it serious?” he frowned.

“No more than it was before.” she sighed. “If I had supplies… It wouldn’t be able to really _fix_ it, not completely, but I could fix some of it, take away some of the pain. If I had the supplies and the right environment, if…” She stopped and breathed out dejectedly. “When the painkillers run out, she’s going to be in a terrible amount of pain.”

He drew her in his arms because he didn’t know what else to do. He couldn’t promise everything would be okay, he didn’t know.

He simply didn’t know.

Their progress the next day was so ridiculous that Marcus started wondering if they shouldn’t just call it quit and settle down for a permanent camp.

“ _Em ste slip thru gonplei.”_ Roan told him when the convoy paused for the night, his eyes drifting toward the rover where Raven had spent the day lying in the back with Abby trying to hold her steady while Jasper tried and failed to drive smoothly.

 _It is a lost fight_.

Marcus remained silent.

He didn’t know if the Ice King was talking about Raven or the whole exodus.

Once he was certain none of their people needed anything and that the settling of camp was running as smoothly as usual, he wandered to where Indra was standing at the edge of the perimeter, setting up watch duties.

He wasn’t sure why they were still keeping watch, out of habit more than anything else probably and in the off-chance than one of the mountain lions they had hunted the other day would conveniently show up for the following night’s dinner.

“Kane.” Indra said when she spotted him. “The scouting party hasn’t returned.”

“Have you tried radioing in?” he frowned.

Bellamy was in charge of that group. He had taken Harper, Nathan and a trikru warrior with them.

“They’re not answering.” Octavia replied, walking out of the shadow with a dark look on her face. “I can track them.”

“No.” he refused. “It’s too dark. There might be interferences and they probably just took shelter somewhere.”

“I’m not under _your_ command.” the girl spat. “I’m going after my brother.”

“You are under mine.” Indra countered. “And Kane is right. It is too dark to walk the mountain at night. We will search for them at first light.”

“They might already be _dead_.” Octavia insisted.

“Have some faith in Bellamy.” Marcus requested.

Octavia stormed off with a last angry look that promised retribution.

A look he should have known how to interpret because half an hour later, Abby rushed to him in quick determined steps. “Clarke and some of the kids are missing.”

“Which ones?” he frowned, already knowing the answer.

“Octavia, Bryan, Jasper and Monty.” she said. “Indra thinks they went after the others.”

A headache was starting to throb behind his eyes. “We can’t…”

“Don’t even try to say we aren’t going to look for them.” she hissed. “Because if you think _for one second_ …”

“Abby.” he cut her off. “If anyone can find Bellamy and his group, it’s Octavia. We _are_ going to look for them but _at first light_. We already have one Raven, we can’t afford anyone else with broken legs.”

He could read her contradictory feelings on her face but in the end she just nodded, not liking it one bit but understanding his reasoning.

He stayed in Medical with her that night, watching Raven tinker with her tablets, her jaw clenched against the pain and a deep frown on her face from whatever readings she was getting, while Abby checked on patients and exchanged serious looks with Nyko, Jackson and the other healers.

“You should get some sleep.” she suggested around one a.m.

“Are _you_ going to get any sleep tonight?” he challenged.

The answer to that was obvious and thus they both stayed awake. He tried to help out where he could but he was mostly underfoot.

It was a relief when Miller passed his head in the tent. “They’re back, sir. And they found something.”

The camp was asleep but campfires were stocked regularly to keep some of the cold at bay. The kids were talking next to one of them, they weren’t _all_ there – Bellamy, Monty, Jasper and Harper were missing. He and Abby reached them at the same time Roan strolled out of his tent, wrapping a fur cloak around his shoulders.

“We found a bunker.” Clarke said with barely restrained excitation. “A military base, I think. It looks like a silo… But it’s big and deep.”

“And it’s _stocked_.” Octavia added. “Full armory and an entire medical floor.”

“There's some weird stuff in there.” Nathan cut in. “But it’s empty.”

Marcus and Abby exchanged a hesitant look, their uncertainty reflected on Roan’s face. A big compound, stocked and empty… It looked too good to be true. And if they had learned anything on the Ground, it was that if it looked too good to be true, it usually _was_.

It didn’t matter that it was exactly what they had been hoping for. When had anything been _that_ easy for them?

Probably sensing their sudden anxiety, Clarke grabbed her mother’s hand with a smile that was both reassuring and commanding, and looked at everyone in turn. “We’re going to Cheyenne Mountain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think?


	4. Genesis

The half-caved in tunnel opened at the base of the mountain like a badly punched mouth. Vegetation covered the greatest portion of it yet some of the rusty letters were still hanging, visible through the ivy: _C E Y E N E M O N T A N._

_Cheyenne Mountain_.

It was Monty who had figured out the old name apparently.

Abby stood there for a few more seconds, staring at the deep dark hole they were about to crawl into. Clarke had told them there would be quite a climb down of several ladders in the dark, that it would take a while. They had found a generator on one of the upper levels, they were hoping Raven could figure something out.

“I radioed Octavia.” Marcus said, joining her. “The convoy is making good time, they will probably be here in two days. Indra is keeping fort.”

She should still have been there too. Miller hadn’t been happy at the perspective of both Chancellors leaving camp at once but both she and Marcus wanted to check it out themselves – and to be honest, after ALIE, she didn’t like not having the people she loved most in her line of sight for extensive periods of time.

Abby nodded distractedly, her eyes still on the unnatural opening. It wasn’t quite like Mount Weather but it didn’t look any more welcoming. “Do you think this is it?”

Marcus followed her eyes and gently squeezed her shoulder. “If Clarke is right and it can protect us from the radiation on the ground…”

“Home sweet home.” she joked, her attempt at levity falling short. No one really wanted to spend the rest of their lives locked in a bunker, no matter how huge it was. Not after the Ark. Not after landing on Earth.

“Abby…” he hesitated.

“I’m fine.” she promised, covering the hand on her shoulder with hers. “I _am_.”

He studied her for a moment and then nodded. “I want you right after me when we climb down.”

“So you can catch me if I fall?” she teased.

“I will _always_ catch you if you fall.” he replied with a small smile, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

“My hero.” she chuckled. “Are you sure it’s not a covert way to ogle me?”

He let out a round of chuckles too and pressed a kiss on her head. “Being a hero has its perks.”

She watched him stroll back to Clarke, Roan and Nathan who were debating on the best way to take the equipment they had brought down, and approached Raven who they had left sitting with her back against a trunk. She crouched next to her with a small reassuring smile, placing her hand on her brow, more to soothe than to check her temperature.

“How are you doing, honey?” she asked in what Raven always called her gentle _Mom_ voice.

“Peachy.” Raven grinned despite her pallor and her shiny eyes. “Really looking forward to hang from someone’s back for half an hour.”

She couldn’t go down by herself, Abby had been adamant about that. Clarke had said they would be able to take breaks on different levels, that the complex was _really_ big. Raven’s leg wouldn’t hold even with regular breaks, Abby was certain of that. It was too risky. The mechanic hadn’t liked it, naturally, but given that she couldn’t take more than a few steps without stumbling and crying out in pain right now, she had come around to her way of thinking.

There was an entire medical floor, Clarke had said. Abby was hoping to find a way to help Raven down there. Reduce the pain at least.

Roan approached, the makeshift harness they had put together with Clarke already in place.

“Are you ready?” he asked Raven.

The young woman licked her lips and lifted a hand, resting her head back against the trunk and staring hard at the sky, her fingers digging in the dirt and clenching around pebbles. 

“Give me a minute.” Raven requested. “Once I’m down there, we all know I’m never coming back up so… _Yeah_ , give me a minute.”

Abby brushed the back of her hand against the mechanic’s cheek and stood up to give her some privacy. She understood. Even if _she_ went down, she could always come back up before the surface became too dangerous, bid farewell to _Earth_. Raven wouldn’t be able to do that.

Roan crouched next to her. “You will see the sky again, Raven Reyes.”

Raven chuckled bitterly, drawing the fur cloak he had gifted her with more tightly around her shoulders. “Are you volunteering to haul me back up here every time I want to go on a stroll in the woods?”

The king looked tranquil when he answered her, his voice calm as if he was simply enunciating a truth. “You are too stubborn to let a wound stop you. _Yu laik yuv, rowen._ ” She frowned a little and he translated. “You are strong.”

Abby tactfully looked away when the staring became a little too… _intimate_ , hiding a small smile. She thought Roan might actually have won some points there – and, _yes_ , maybe she was rooting a little too hard for the king but Raven deserved some happiness and despite everything Roan was a good man.

Eventually, Raven nodded and Abby helped settle her in the harness. Mostly the mechanic clung to Roan’s shoulders like a spider monkey and to his waist with her good leg.

“Don’t let her fall.” Abby instructed, once they were as secured as they were going to be.

“Never, _Haiplana.”_ Roan snorted and there was enough certainty in there that Abby thought she would not be the only _Skaikru_ sporting that title in a few years. Roan was a determined man and it was very obvious to her he _liked_ Raven _a lot_. And Raven, despite what she claimed, wasn’t _that_ opposed to it. She was rather enjoying the attention.

The climb down was slow process.

Clarke went first, followed by Marcus, then Abby, then Roan and Raven, and Nathan was at the rear. The bobbing beams of their flashlights were barely enough to let them see where they were going and Abby focused on the rusty metal bars under her hands and feet, not knowing how deep the shaft was and how much lower they would need to go.

After a few minutes, it felt as if her whole world resumed to the dark well, the bars and the dancing beams of light on the wall.

“The generator is at this level.” Clarke called out from underneath. There was some banging and a squeaking sound and then a door opened on an equally dark corridor. They all stopped to catch their breaths and Abby automatically inched closer to Marcus, the eerie silence getting to her.

It looked like a ghost town.

“I’m taking King Useless with me.” Raven announced, relieving Nathan of her tool box. “You know, in case I need some muscles.”

“My muscles are happy to serve you, _rowen_.” Roan answered, a leer in his voice. In the beam of Clarke’s flashlight, Raven rolled her eyes.

“Bellamy, where are you?” Clarke asked in her radio.

_“The briefing room.”_ Bellamy immediately answered. _“You brought Kane back, right? I want him to check this thing out.”_

“What thing?” Marcus frowned.

“The _weird_ thing.” Nathan sighed. “Raven should probably take a look too.”

“Power first.” Abby cut in. “That’s our priority for now.”

“I’m taking him to you.” Clarke answered in her radio before turning to Abby. “Miller can take you to the medical floor.”

She hesitated. As much as she was curious about the promised medical heaven her daughter had described – although to be fair everything would look like heaven now that they didn’t have much supplies left – she wanted to see what had Bellamy _and_   Nathan so… weary. “I will come with you.”

Going with them involved more climbing down and then following twisting corridors and some stairs before they eventually walked in a big room with a long table in the middle, chairs and what appeared to be a window giving on some sort of office. Abby’s flashlight lingered on the glass because something caught her eyes, it took a few seconds to realize it wasn’t simply a glass but a see-through _map_ and it was several seconds more before she identified _stars_. That was how she missed the other three windows that took up an entire wall and overlooked another room below.

“Kane.” Bellamy nodded. “Abby. You need to check this out.”

And without much further ado, the young man walked to some metallic spiral stairs and down what appeared to be an observation room… Monty was there, checking cables at the back of some computers monitors, his flashlight wedged between his teeth.

“The computers look okay.” the boy said, when he spotted Bellamy. “If Raven can get the generator running, I can probably find out what this place was.”

“Good.” Bellamy nodded but barely paused on his way down. There were more stairs and then more corridors and then Abby finally understood what he meant by _weird thing_. “We think this was an old nuclear silo but… _That’s_ not a missile.”

The young man directed his flashlight on the huge thing in the middle of the room, so did the rest of them but even then it was difficult to see it all at once. There was a ramp leading up to what looked like a disk. The outer ring was thicker, carved with odd symbols and hooked to what looked like old-fashioned convectors, the inner thing looked like a metal iris.

“What is this?” she frowned.

“Question is… Is it dangerous?” Clarke cut in.

Marcus edged closer to the thing and Abby almost called him back, told him to be careful, but she eventually held her tongue because this was Marcus in a nutshell. He put his hand flat on the inner ring and then touched the outer ring.

“It’s two different kinds of metal.” he commented.

“Yeah. That’s Monty and Jasper’s idea too.” Bellamy shrugged. “Raven should check it out as soon as she repaired the generator. And Monty can hack the computers and find out what it is just to be on the safe side.”

“What sort of place is this?” Abby asked, aiming her flashlight at the wall. There were generators everywhere.

“Honestly, aside for the fact it seems to be called SGC, I don’t know.” Bellamy shrugged.

“How do you know?” Marcus asked distractedly. He seemed to be fascinated with the disk, he walked around it, inspecting it under every angle…

“Those letters are everywhere.” Clarke said. “You didn’t notice?”

“It sounds like an acronym. They must stand for something.” Abby suggested.

“The important thing is… This place is _huge_.” Bellamy said. “There are two habitation levels, both dormitories and individual rooms. There are locker rooms and offices we can rework into habitation areas. There’s an utility room full of uniforms, an entire medical floor with machineries and meds, there’s a floor with a gym, training rooms and recreation areas, there are cells, a fully stocked armory, storage rooms full of things we haven’t had time to check yet, a commissary – Harper and Jasper are sorting the still edible food from the rotten stuff right now but we shouldn’t hold our breath, it’s _old_ – an underground parking lot for the rover with _cars_ we can maybe repair, a couple of floors with labs Raven and engineering will probably go crazy over, some more floors full of stuff that looks like it came out of a museum… We found gas masks and hazmat suits and even _space suits_. Assuming we can stock up and find a way to make food… I think this place is a gold mine.”

Abby took all that in stride. It looked too good to be true.

Marcus smiled at the kid. “Good job, Bellamy.”

The boy shrugged, a bit embarrassed but, Abby thought, also pleased. “There’s something else you should see.” His eyes darted to Clarke. “You too. We found them out in the armory after you left.”

He guided them all back to the briefing room. It was dusty but Abby sat down in one of the rolling chairs anyway.

The kids had found some weird shaped things in the armory. There were some things that looked a bit like metal staffs. When Marcus picked one up, Bellamy was quick to place a restrictive hand on his arm. “Be careful. I almost blew a hole in the wall with that staff.” He demonstrated by pressing a button and the tip of the staff opened, obviously ready to fire. “Press here again and a blast comes out. As far as I can tell there’s no ammunition so…”

“Useful.” Marcus nodded.

“Yeah.” Bellamy replied with enthusiasm. “And check _this_ out.”

That one looked a bit like a weird hand gun. Bellamy pressed a button and it unfolded into an odd shaped S. Marcus immediately leaned closer, looking the thing over and asking practical questions that Bellamy was only too happy to answer.

Abby and Clarke exchanged a look and rolled their eyes with amusement, aware they were thinking the very same things. _Boys and new toys._  

“I thought it was like the shock batons at first but… look.” Bellamy aimed at a chair and fired three times. The first time nothing happened aside for some electric statics, the second was similar, the third time the chair disintegrated. 

Abby had to blink.

There was nothing left of it, not even dust on the floor. No flames, no light, no visible transition between one state of existence and one of… _non existence_.

“What the…” Marcus didn’t finish that thought but Abby was right there with him.

“That’s not possible.” Clarke stammered.

“ _I know_.” Bellamy said, lifting his hands and letting them drop. “I’m telling you, there are _weird_ stuff around here.”

There was a loud hum that made them all look up and a few seconds after, the lights flickered to life. _Everything_ flickered to life, it seemed. Computers, red lights in the main room with the disk thing, speakers did a chirping sound… And then it stopped and all that was left were dimmed emergency lights that reminded her of the Ark when it had been about to die.

Clarke reached for her radio. “Raven?”

“ _We’re on minimal power for now_. _It should cover lights and any fire door._ ” the mechanic replied. _“Good news is, there’s an independent engine which means we don’t need to go look outside for fuel or solar energy, but some parts look weird. The actual power source is like nothing I’ve seen before.”_

“Weird is the theme of this place.” Clarke snorted in the radio. “Do you think you can make it work full power?”

“ _Hi, I’m Raven. Have you met me?”_ Raven laughed. _“It’ll take some time but I’ll figure it out. Whoever designed this, they were_ good _. Maybe as good as me. This engine is a piece of art.”_

“Keep us updated.” Marcus requested in his own radio.

_“Will do_.” Raven replied.

He turned to Bellamy. “Give me a tour.”

They looked like two excited toddlers and once again Abby found herself looking at her daughter.

“Let them play.” Clarke mocked, low enough that they wouldn’t hear. “I’ll take you to medical.”

Abby nodded and followed after her but not before, squeezing Marcus’ arm with a pointed look. “Be _careful_. And _don’t_ play with disintegrators before Raven had a chance to check them out.”

“Sensible advice _you_ should follow.” Clarke hissed to Bellamy, with an accusatory finger poking his chest.

It didn’t take them long to get to medical even though it involved _more_ climbing. She noticed the elevators and dearly hoped they would be able to use them once they would be back to full power.

When they actually reached medical though, Abby forgot all about her aching legs. There were individual patient rooms, quarantine rooms with observatory decks, entire storage rooms full of meds and supplies – the meds were probably not good anymore but there might have been some things to salvage and the supplies were usable – exam rooms, a fridge full of blood bags they would have to clear out and maybe replenish, medical equipment that made her want to weep with joy after what she had been forced to use on the ground and actual _machineries_ …

“It’s a bit outdated…” Clarke commented, peering inside the MRI. “But maybe Raven can…”

“It’s perfect.” Abby cut her off. It was a century old, yes, and Raven clearly had her work cut out for her in this base. But it was perfect. Because she would actually be able to properly _help patients_ now.

And Raven…

She could actually _do_ something for Raven now – assuming the girl would let her.

“We will need to make everything sterile again.” she said, not bothering to hide her excitement. She couldn’t _wait_ for Jackson to get there.

Clarke gave her a brief tour of the rest of the base. Eventually Marcus radioed in to let them know he was heading back out to check on the convoy. With her daughter’s help, Abby started on the inventory on the Medical floor immediately. It was hard and disgusting work but they soon cleared the blood bank fridge and half of the meds that weren’t salvageable. They paused for some food and a few hours of sleep and then went right back to it.

There still was running water, that was the good news. The bad one was that it came out of the tap muddy and with a reddish tinge. Bellamy and Jasper tinkered for a while and the water cleared a little.

Abby forbade anyone to drink it or wash with it until they had a clear idea of what the problem was. However it was good for cleaning, which was how she had the kids helping her make Medical spotless again – they grumbled about it, of course, but she put on her best stern face and they went on with it.

Raven managed to get the base back on full power two hours before the convoy arrived. This time, everything flickered to life, even the elevators that the mechanic deemed safe to use – which, Abby wouldn’t lie, was a relief.

“It’s a bit odd, don’t you think?” Bellamy asked her as they were all sharing dry meat in the briefing room, waiting for the rest of their people to arrive and colonize the mountain. “Everything is stocked. It’s like they left the base ready for use but there are no bodies anywhere, no proof that anyone lived here.”

“Maybe they left.” Jasper suggested.

“Maybe they _never_ made it.” Harper countered.

“It was obviously an important base.” Abby agreed with Bellamy. “It’s unlikely _nobody_ made it…”

“Or that it was empty when the bombs fell…” Clarke added. “And there’s all the weird stuff around… There are more weird looking machines on the lab floors. We should restrict those areas for now.”

“I’ll start working on the computers.” Monty declared. “From what I’ve seen so far, they’re protected but I’m sure I can hack them.”

“Do that as fast as possible. I want answers.” Abby ordered, chancing a glance through the bay windows at the huge metal disk below. Raven had declined food to work on it. She was running tests with her tablet, talking fast and sometimes waving her hand to make a point. Roan stood by her side, listening with rapt attention. She didn’t look in pain so Abby let her have her fun. The engine with the mysterious power source and the outer ring of the disk – that she had declared to be the very same sort of metal – was enough of a mystery that Raven was over the moon.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Monty nodded, swallowing his dry meat faster.

Abby smiled at him. “ _After_ you ate a proper meal.”

The boy relaxed and flashed her a smile. “Thank you, Ma’am.”

“Can you stop calling her _Ma’am_.” Clarke wrinkled her nose. “It’s almost as bad as half the Grounders calling her _queen_.”

“That’s what you get for being the Chancellor’s daughter, princess.” Bellamy mocked with a smirk, barely avoiding the punch in his shoulder coming from Clarke.

It was good to see the kids laugh and fool around again. After ALIE and with the doomsday clock three seconds away from 0, Abby was just happy that they could all still find some moments of peace.

“If Chancellor Griffin’s the queen and Clarke’s the princess…” Harper teased. “What does that make _you_ , Bellamy?”

“Her knight.” Jasper snorted. “Raven got that right when she was chipped.”

There was a long bout of silence and Abby looked down at what was left of her meal. _So much for peace…_

“I’ve got no problem with that.” Bellamy said suddenly, almost brutal. He looked at Clarke then and Clarke looked back and Abby had to bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling like an idiot because she _knew_ love when she saw it and that was the only way to describe the stares they were giving each other.

“Oh, get a _room_.” Harper laughed and abruptly fell silent when she remembered Abby was sitting right there. “Sorry, Ma’am.”

“I am well aware nobody in this room is a virgin anymore.” she said.

There was a series of groans and grunts because _god forbids_ an adult would acknowledge _sex_.

“ _Mom_!” Clarke whined.

This time, Abby didn’t try to hide her grin. “It feels _so good_ to know I can still embarrass you.”

Everyone laughed, herself included, and she felt sorry Marcus had missed this. Levity was too rare a thing to be found nowadays…

As soon as the convoy arrived, problems started popping all over the place like mushrooms. Where to put who, separating Trikru, Ice Nation, Arkers and other Grounders – they were a coalition, yes, but they were not a single _people_ – how best to stock resources… The survivors from the Ark took to the base like a fish to water but the Grounders were all on their guards, nervous and almost aggressive.

“It looks too much like the Mountain.” Indra told her as she, Abby and the Ice King stood in the briefing room, trying to figure the installation out. Clarke and Marcus had gone up to supervise.

“ _Em lak chit kikathru_.” Roan scoffed. _“Nou be kwel.”_

Abby’s trigedasleng was slowly getting better. _It looks like survival_ , she thought the king had said, _don’t be weak_.

_“Nau tag in ai kwel Azhef_.” Indra growled, placing a hand on the hilt of her sword.

_Don’t call me weak, Ice Man_.

Abby swiftly placed herself in the middle.  “We’re all tired and tensions are running high but fighting each other isn’t the way to go. Indra… Talk to your people. We know you suffered a lot from Mount Weather but this is _not_ Mount Weather.”

“ _Ceyene Monta na kom au os_. _Em souda._ ” Roan insisted before storming away.

“Okay…” Abby frowned. “That was too much for my skills.”

“He says Cheyenne Mountain will be a good thing. That it has to be.” Indra translated with obvious resentment.

“He is right.” she said softly. “Surely, you _see_ that…”

She didn’t know if Indra saw it but she _did_ try to bring Trikru around. Clarke did the same with the Grounders who had declared her their Commander but the situation still remained volatile. When Markus tracked Abby down to Medical where she had established her own base camp, ordering people around either to get the floor ready for use or to try and fix other problems – like _plumbing_ – he looked exhausted.

“Almost everyone found a place to settle.” he announced. “I forced Raven to go get some sleep before she drops dead on that disk and I told Bellamy to do the same with Clarke. Monty is still working on the computers but he actually spontaneously took a nap earlier because _unlike_ the others he’s a bright kid who knows not to exhaust himself. _And_ I found us a room. Chancellor’s priority pick.”

“That’s a thing you invented to steal that couch.” she argued with a fond smile. She missed their couch in the war room.

“It’s a room, Abby.” he said, stepping in her space and lowering his voice, his hand coming to rest not so subtly on her lower back. “With _a bed_. An _actual_ bed. I even tracked down clean sheets.”

“How _thoughtful_ of you, Chancellor Kane.” she chuckled, placing her hand on his arm. “I could use some rest.”

She let Jackson in charge of Medical – if anything, Jackson looked just as happy as she was about the whole floor – and let Marcus guide her through the maze of corridors and floors. It didn’t look like a ghost town anymore, there were people everywhere. She noticed Grounders used the ladders rather than the elevators. She summed up the argument between Indra and Roan on their way, he didn’t sound surprised. He had been forced to play referee in his share of arguments today.

“We will need ground rules.” he sighed. “It won’t work otherwise.”

She privately wondered how long it would take them to revert to the _Exodus Charter_ down there… The situation would be similar to life on the Ark albeit underground instead of in space. She wondered if they would revert down to executing people by pushing them outside – it wouldn’t happen while _she_ was Chancellor, that much she could swear, and she was fairly certain Marcus wouldn’t go for that either, not after Pike… But how many shifts in power would it take?

Marcus hadn’t been kidding with his _Chancellor’s pick_. He had taken one of the best rooms in what she figured to be some sort of VIP area. The two Ice Nation guards planted in front of a door down the corridor betrayed Roan’s choice of sleeping quarters… That floor would probably become the new Alpha station.

The room itself was spacious and _clean_ – she wondered if he had done that himself or if he had coerced someone into helping _the Chancellor_ – if utilitarian. She could live with utilitarian, they could make it _theirs_ in time. There was a door on the far end leading to a small private bathroom but her eyes were immediately drawn to the bed. It wasn’t quite a double, more like a large single, and it would be a tight fit but they could _certainly_ make this work.

And the best thing in the whole room was…

_It locked_.

It made a loud sound when she turned it and Marcus smirked, looking at her with badly contained impatience.

“Are we finishing what we started the other night?” he asked, both hopeful and amused.

“Wasn’t that your cunning plan?” she retorted, teasing. She shed her jacket and tossed it on the drawer, lifting her eyebrows with a challenging expression.

It was a challenge he was only too happy to take her up on. He stepped closer and placed his hands on her hips, drawing her to him. She bit her bottom lip briefly, fighting off a grin, before brushing her mouth against his. She had intended it as a tease, nothing else, but her plan backfired. The kiss was violent in its intensity and he backed her against the drawer. Her hands flew to his hair and she tangled her fingers in his thick glossy curls.

His palms ran up her ribs, inching her shirt up, lingering there for a moment, warm, before he slipped it off her. She drew back from the kiss only long enough for it to go over her head, then she went right back to kissing him while he fumbled with the clasp of her bra. When he managed to undo it and started stroking the skin of her back, retracing the line of her spine, she pushed his jacket off his shoulders until it flopped on the floor, and moved her mouth to his neck.

She nibbled and sucked and teased until he moaned and hooked a finger in the waistband of her pants to guide her away from the dresser and toward the bed.

She made a quick job of getting his shirt off and they both battled with their boots for a couple of seconds, stealing hungry glances at each other until they were embracing again, fumbling with belts and pants.

“I want you.” she mumbled against his neck when they were _finally_ naked and pressed tight against each other. “I want you _so much_.”

He kissed her again and slipped his hand between her legs. She wasn’t sure if he pushed her on the bed or if she simply couldn’t take it anymore, but she fell backward and he fell right on her because she was gripping his shoulders too tight. It knocked the air out of her lungs for a moment but then she started laughing at how clumsy and impatient they were.

He chuckled too, pressing hot kisses against her throat and down her collarbone to her breasts, his fingers resuming their slow back and forth strokes. The overload of sensations was welcomed and she arched her back more than once, all the more so when his mouth started wandering on her stomach and lower…

It had been _so long_ …

The alarm started blaring _just_ when he planted an open mouthed kiss on her inner thigh. They both looked up and then at each other at the same time.

_“Auto destruction activated.”_ a robotic voice echoed everywhere. _“Auto destruction in ten… nine… eight…”_

The siren and the disembodied voice abruptly fell silent.

They remained frozen in place, staring at each other.

_“Er… This is Monty Green…”_ came the next base-wide message _“There might have been a slight slip up on my part but everything’s fine now so… You know… Everyone… Carry on!”_

Abby suppressed the urge to facepalm. “We should probably check that out.”

“Probably.” Marcus hesitated before planting another kiss on her inner thigh, inching closer to where she really wanted him to kiss her. “We’ll check it out… _Later_ …”

Her eyelids fluttered close when he buried his head between her thighs and she wasn’t as worried as she probably should have been about Cheyenne Mountain’s possible imminent explosion.

She was too busy coming apart herself.

Once she stopped seeing stars, she pulled him up over her and kissed him deep. She could taste herself on his tongue. She was surprised by how powerful it made her feel. She reached between their body and wrapped her fingers around him.

“Your turn.” she whispered in his ear.

She felt his shiver of anticipation before she pushed him on his back and kissed her way down, taking her time, _exploring_. She made him groan three times before she even reached her target. She hesitated for a fraction of a second because it had been even longer since she had done anything like that. _Years_ maybe but she put that thought aside because she didn’t want to bring the memory of another man in that bed - _their_ bed.

At the first poke of her tongue he let out a long moan and she spared a thought for the walls, hoping they were soundproof and, above all, that her daughter hadn’t chosen the next room. Then she stopped thinking, working on making him moan and groan again and again, working him up until he was so hard and throbbing it made her _ache_ for him in ways that probably should have made her ashamed of herself, relishing in the relentless chant of her name passing his lips.

She gave a last lick and drew back when she felt him too close to release. _Another time_ , she promised herself. They had that luxury now. _Time_.

He looked at her with eyes clouded with lust, waiting for what would come next. The trust was so obvious on his face, she smiled and straddled his hips. He hissed when she gently guided him inside her until he was buried to the hilt. She gave herself time to adjust before she started rocking her hips, spurred on by the way he was looking at her.

She felt like the most beautiful woman on Earth.

One of his hands was on her hip, not to impose a rhythm but to _hold_ , the other brushed her hair back and she kissed his wrist, kissed the ugly scar she hated herself for. She leaned on his chest and captured his mouth again, keeping her rocking deep and regular until she felt the need for _more_.

“Can you…” she started but never got to finish her sentence.

He swiftly rolled them over – and had to brace his hand against the nightstand to prevent them from actually rolling _on the floor_ because they had miscalculated the width of the bed – hauled her back in the middle of the mattress less delicately than he usually would and then it was her turn to hiss, her head tossed back as he simply _fucked her_.

For a moment, the room was full of noises… Her whimpers, his groans and the regular slapping sound of flesh against flesh… Then she cried out and, before she could completely come down from her high, he buried his face in her neck with a strangled _“Abby”_ and he was coming too.

The direct aftermath was a blur of gentle stroking of hair, soft kisses and bodies realigning to curl up around one another.

Abby fell asleep fast.

She woke up only because he left the bed.

She heard the ruffling of clothes and she sleepily glanced over her shoulder to see he was slipping his pants on. She frowned but before she could ask what he was doing, he was already opening the door.

“Is it an emergency?” he asked in a low voice, probably not to disturb her.

“Not really.” Bellamy answered from the corridor and Abby wriggled further under the blankets both because she was naked and even though Marcus was keeping the door half closed she didn’t want to risk it and because she was too tired to deal with anything that _wasn’t_ an emergency.

“Bellamy, we only had three hours of sleep.” Marcus sighed.

“I know. Sorry.” the boy replied. “But I really think you want to see what Monty found out. Raven’s going _crazy_. And… _Honestly_ , Kane, you _need_ to check this out.”

Marcus sighed. “Fine. Just let me…”

“Get dressed?” Bellamy taunted. “You’re going to want to do something about that hickey on your neck…”

Laughter echoed from the corridor.

“ _Shut up_.” he grumbled, clearly still sleep-deprived, as he retreated inside to put some clothes and shoes on. He walked back to the bed and arranged the blankets around her properly before pressing a kiss on her head. “Go back to sleep, Abby.”

She did. Feeling happier than she had in a very long time.


	5. Jericho

“Space travel.” Abby finally said doubtfully, once Raven and Monty had concluded their presentation.

Marcus couldn’t quite blame her for her incredulity. It had taken some time for the kids to convince him they weren’t playing a prank on him and given the sudden silence that had fallen on the briefing room, the others needed convincing too. Roan and Indra seemed a bit lost, maybe because the kids’ speech had involved some technical terms only people who had lived in space could understand.

What Monty had found in the computer concurred with Raven’s observations on the disk and the odd generator. The mechanic looked like she had discovered the legendary grail. Monty and the others just looked excited.

To be fair, once convinced they weren’t joking, Marcus had been too.

There was a boyish part of him, a part he had long suppressed, who had been _fascinated_ with the idea of space. Earth, of course, but the rest of the galaxy too.

“Guys, it sounds…” Clarke sighed, letting her sentence trail off and shaking her head.

“SGC stands for Stargate Command.” Marcus butted in. He had spent the last six hours reading as much as he could find, locked in the office of the former base commander. “This thing is a Stargate.” He pointed to the bay window where the tip of the disk was visible. “It’s a space gate. To other worlds. An _infinite_ numbers of world. The people here… They used it to _explore_ , learn… When the nuclear threat became too much, they left through the Gate with their families to another off-world site. The last General in charge made sure the base was stocked in case locals made it there after they were gone.”

“There were spaceships too.” Bellamy added, not so helpfully.

They were faced with more blank faces.

Abby looked like she wanted nothing else than to drag him to Medical and do a complete check up.

“ _Space_ _travel,_ Marcus.” she repeated.

“We used to live in space.” Monty pointed out.

“In a _stationary_ orbit.” Abby argued. “Not on a _spaceship_.”

“Right?” Raven grinned. “Isn’t this so much more _awesome?”_

“This sounds like science-fiction.” Clarke winced.

“But it explains _everything_ , don’t you see?” Marcus exclaimed. “The strange weapons, the Gate…”

“Is it still open?” Indra asked. It was the first time she had opened her mouth since the beginning of the briefing. Her dark eyes were tracking him calmly. “This Gate.”

“Not at the moment obviously.” Raven said, rolling her chair back and forth. “It would take a lot of power to open a wormhole – that’s what it’s called, by the way – more than we currently have. I would have to tinker with…”

“You misunderstand Indra’s question.” Roan cut her off, his face serious. “Is the Gate open or is it locked?”

“Oh.” the mechanic frowned. “No, the iris acts like a lock. Any incoming wormhole will be blocked unless we grant them access.”

Which meant they didn’t have to worry about intruders.

“Actually that’s a bit of a problem.” Monty added. “The manual opening of the iris works with registered key members’ handprints so I will have to rewrite the code so _we_ can work with it but whoever designed the softwares of the entire base was _good_. I mean _really_ good. They’re a century old though so I should manage to…”

“Monty, you should keep the technical details for your report.” Marcus suggested, not unkindly.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” the kid winced. “It’s just… This whole place is _incredible.”_

“But _space travel._ ” Abby insisted.

“You come from the sky, _Abi kom Skaikru_.” Indra commented. She was watching Marcus with attention and he wasn’t surprised when she titled her head to the side. “You wish to use this Gate.”

There was a long silence and he cleared his throat. “There is no guarantee Raven can get it to work.”

“I _can_ get it to work, thank you very much.” Raven scoffed but Marcus ignored her.

“And we should definitely read everything we can and think about it before we make a decision.” he continued. “I’m not saying it’s necessarily safe but maybe it’s a risk we should take.”

“Why?” Roan asked. It didn’t sound hostile though, he was just waiting for his reasoning.

“Because in less than three months we won’t be able to go outside anymore.” he shrugged. “Resources will be difficult to get. At worst we could use the Gate to find food and necessary items like medicine. There are people out there…”

“ _Aliens_.” Abby clarified, clearly having a hard time grasping the whole thing.

“Well, technically speaking, _we_ would be the aliens.” he remarked. “But yes. We could trade. And at best, we could find somewhere to relocate.”

“Another planet.” Abby said.

“Mom, are you okay?” Clarke frowned.

“I’m adjusting.” she replied.

“Look, I know it sounds crazy.” Bellamy cut in. “But it could work.”

“If we manage to open it, we should try what they called the Alpha site first.” Monty suggested. “That’s where everyone went. Maybe they’re still there. Maybe they would take us in.”

“More _Skaikru_.” Roan commented.

“ _Speiskru_ , more like.” Raven snorted, looking at everyone around the table and rolling her eyes. “Come on, guys! It’s _awesome_!”

“It’s _dangerous_.” Abby commented.

“It’s an _option_.” Marcus argued. “I’m not saying it’s the best one but it’s an option.”

“Kane has a point.” Clarke said slowly.

“That’s becoming a trend with you.” Bellamy mocked.

“I would go myself.” he volunteered. “I wouldn’t risk anyone’s life for…”

“Like hell, you will.” Raven cut him off. “When that Gate opens, I’m the first one going through. Fight me for it.” She tossed a glare around before anyone could say anything. “I’m killing the first one who says I can’t because of my leg.”

“We need to talk about that by the way.” Abby said quietly.

“I think we’re done here anyway.” Marcus shrugged. “Nothing’s happening in the near future. Let’s just settle down and focus on filling the storage rooms with food… Meanwhile we can… explore our options.”

“I will lead hunt parties.” Indra offered. “If Wanheda orders her warriors to join mine…”

“Yes, of course.” Clarke accepted.

Everyone started clearing out the room. Raven rolled her chair all the way to the bay window and looked at the Gate with such a yearning expression on her face Marcus almost joined her, to try and comfort her, but Roan beat him to it. Which was just as good because suddenly Abby was standing in front of him, features set in worry. With a last glance for their mechanic, he guided Abby to the base commander’s office.

“I see there’s a couch.” Abby joked. It was more of a settee really, wedged between the other door that opened on the corridor and a file cabinet. He had tried to get the dust out as best as he could. “You have a thing for couches.”

He went to close the door leading to the briefing room but not quickly enough not to hear the exchange between the Grounder and Raven.

“Why do you yearn for space so much?” Roan asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“Because it’s amazing.” Raven shrugged as if it was obvious. “You’ve never wanted to explore the universe? Going out in space was all I ever wanted, then I fell on Earth… _Other planets_. Can you imagine? Don’t you want to see for yourself?”

“That is not my people’s way.” he replied.

“Well, maybe you should change your ways.” she snorted. “The universe is too big to stay in the same corner. I want to see it _all_.”

The Grounder watched her for a second. “ _Ai beda hode in ai hop thru kom yu.”_

_I would like to see it with you_.

Raven looked puzzled, still not fluent enough to understand trigedasleng properly. Roan bowed and left without translating and Marcus finally closed the door.

“Done spying?” Abby teased, sitting down on the small couch.

“I’m too invested in those kids’ life.” he snorted, leaning against the desk. “I just want to make sure they’re okay.”

“By embarking on a space odyssey?” she asked, lifting her eyebrows. There was just enough disbelief in her voice to let him know she was still trying to adjust to the possibility.

“Why is it so hard for you to believe there is more?” he asked. “We lived in space for almost a century, Abby.”

He had already used that argument before but… They _had_. It wasn’t much more far-stretched to imagine ships that could _travel_ and Gates that opened on other worlds… It wasn’t much stranger than an evil AI trapping them in a City of Light or a chair disappearing right under their very eyes.

“I think I never thought about it, that’s all…” she offered, pushing herself off the couch to walk straight to him. He glanced through the map window to make sure the briefing room was empty and then properly sat on the desk, opening his legs a little so she could stand in between them. She had a small smile on her face. “You are a dreamer, Marcus Kane.”

“I didn’t use to be.” he shrugged, locking his hands at the small of her back when she placed her arms around his neck. “You changed me.”

“How?” she frowned.

“You taught me how to hope.” he smiled, leaning in to steal a kiss. She surrendered to it willingly, angling her head to the side so she could deepen it.

“You weren’t there when I woke up.” she rebuked him gently, between two kisses. “I was looking forward to waking up with you.”

“Tomorrow.” he promised, burying his hand in her hair. “We will have a whole life of mornings.”

She chuckled against his lips. “You really _are_ working on the hope thing, aren’t you?”

_He was_.

And it was put to test during the following weeks.

Tensions with the Grounders were increasing. Indra, Roan and Clarke were doing what they could but none of them had ever lived in such an environment, it reminded most of them of Mount Weather and the others were resenting the close quarters and the soon to be impossibility to walk outside.

The more time passed, the more he was convinced the answer was to go in search of _something_ _else,_ a place they could call home and where no radiation would prevent them from building a brand new society.

“I’m in love.” Raven declared one day, flopping down on a chair right next to Marcus in the Commissary where he and Abby were having lunch.

“Already?” Abby beamed, clearly pleased by that piece of news. “Should we start calling you _Azplana_ or…”

“What are you talking about?” Raven frowned.

Abby frowned. “What are _you_ talking about?”

“Samantha Carter.” the mechanic shrugged, waving her tablet. “That woman was _it_. Do you know she designed the whole SGC software? _And_ the naquadah reactor that supplies the whole base? _And_ she’s the one who figured out how to make the Gate work in the first place.”

“That was Daniel Jackson.” Marcus corrected. Faced with their stares, he shrugged. He may or may not have been reading mission reports by the dozens dating back from the very beginning of the program when they had been as lost as _they_ would be nowadays if they were serious in starting Gate travel again.

“She figured out the technical part anyway.” Raven riposted, clearly defensive of her newfound hero. “ _And_ I found out she’s the one who sketched the basics for the Ark although they didn’t start building it until a few years after her death. She was _a genius_.” The young woman grinned. “And _so am I_. I think I figured out how to use the naquadah reactor to power up the Gate without affecting the rest of the base.”

“We could open it?” Marcus asked, dropping his fork in his tray.

Raven nodded, her grin growing wider and wider. “Space, Kane. We will go to _space_.”

“No one is going anywhere until we talk about it all together.” Abby cut in. “And even then. I’ve read some of those reports too. Do we want to risk bringing enemies at our doors? And even assuming the _Goa’ulds_ or _Ories_ or whatever monsters out there are not interested in Earth anymore… There are other considerations to take in. We cannot face a quarantine. How many times in those reports are they talking about locking down the base? We cannot risk that.”

“I still think ultimately it’s worth the risk.” he argued. “Plus, they found allies. We could too.”

Abby pursed her lips tight. “I don’t know.”

“There are still tricks to work out anyway.” Raven sighed, clearly disappointed. “Monty’s still working on the iris programs. We don’t need to decide right now.”

“We will talk about it at the next Council reunion.” Abby compromised. Her face soon grew serious. “Raven, have you thought about…”

“I don’t want surgery.” the young woman cut her off.

“You’re in pain.” Abby argued. “And we can actually do something about it.”

“It won’t fix me.” Raven snapped.

“No, it won’t.” she admitted. “But it will help. And it won’t be like last time. Jasper has been working with Jackson and me… We have anesthetics now. I swear, Raven, it will help reduce the pain in the long run.”

Raven promised she would think about it but she didn’t commit to anything.

Situation got from bad to worse.

They were about two months away from ALIE’s doom’s line when it became necessary to wear hazmat suits to go outside.

Suddenly, it was a lot easier to understand why the people in Mount Weather had been so desperate.

The base was big but it was still a closed space full of people, most of which had never been used to stay between four walls all day long.

Marcus spent his days settling down disputes, trying to keep up some semblance of order and basically preventing the situation from blowing up. They had been in Cheyenne Mountain for a month and he would have loved to believe it was just an adjustment phase but he knew better.

He felt it himself.

The _hitch_ for something that wasn’t the terrible routine of a scheduled life.

It was the Ark all over again.

They had tasted paradise on Earth and now they were back to purgatory.

The only light in all this was Abby. _That_ was a part he liked. Going back to their room to find her reading in bed, having to drag her away from Medical because she was overworking herself again, kisses every time they wanted, sex every time they could get away with it… Life with Abby was something he could grow used to, something he cherished and that would in time make the seclusion worthwhile.

“How did it go?” he asked, one night, when she came back to their room. Raven had finally decided to go with the surgery and it had taken a little longer than what Abby had anticipated, according to Nyko. Both Clarke and Jackson had assisted her.

He was already in bed, reading on the tablet he had taken to dragging around with him all day because _apparently_ Chancellors should be ready to be alerted of impending crisis at different levels of base every second of every day.

“Well.” Abby smiled, kicking her boots and collapsing on the bed. “I think the pain will be reduced by sixty percent. With more painkillers, it should be really manageable.”

“That’s great news.” he declared, happy for Raven.

“It is. Roan’s sitting with her. She’s drugged and he finds it hilarious.” She peered at the screen of his tablet and smiled. “Are you still reading mission reports?”

He was fascinated by them and had almost read everything the computers had to offer. He may or may not have developed a small case of hero worship for the original SG1 team – a hero worship Bellamy was wholeheartedly _sharing_.

“Not anymore.” he smirked, placing the tablet down on the nightstand. “Now I’m taking care of you.”

“Good.” she grinned. “Because I can’t move to save my life. You’ll have to undress me.”

“What a chore.” he joked, pressing a kiss against her lips before obediently tugging pants, shirt and underwear off. He dropped a few kisses on his way but she was so obviously tired he kept them loving rather than purposeful. He helped her in the pants and shirt she wore at night and kissed her forehead when she snuggled against him with a sigh of happiness.

He switched the light off, thinking she would be asleep in minutes. Which was why he was surprised when she started a conversation, all the while drawing soothing patterns on his side.

“You really believe in a possible Gate program, don’t you?” she asked quietly.

“I really think it’s our best long term option, yes.” he nodded. “The SGC is not the Ark. Population control would have to be harsher. We’re already having order issues which means…”

“We will need to start thinking about suitable punishments.” she finished. “And not just a few days in a cell.”

“Yes.” he confirmed. “And none that involves being tied to a stick and being cut open a thousand times either.”

She chuckled but it wasn’t really amused. “You discussed this with Indra.”

“I did.” he sighed. “And with Roan. I didn’t like any option they came up with. They suggested justice should be dealt with differently by each clan but…”

“That’s not going to work on long term in such a closed place.” she said.

“Exactly.” he agreed. “And there’s the matter of food and other emergency products. We can grow some of that like we did up there. We can probably work out around most of our problems like we did up there. But we don’t have the technology we used to so it will be more difficult.”

Truth be told, he didn’t see any scenario where they would survive more than a couple of generations – _if_ even.

“If you can convince Indra and Roan…” she ventured. “I think we should give it a try.”

He licked his lips, almost not believing what he was hearing. She hadn’t been exactly vocal in her disapproval but she had kept pushing to have the matter discussed at an ulterior date during council meetings. Secretly, he thought she feared the whole thing. He did too, a little. This might turn out to be just another City of Light.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

He didn’t want her to do this just because he wanted it. They were Chancellors. The fact that they had chosen to co-lead didn’t mean they needed to cave to each other’s expectations. This was a partnership and it should remain one. Their people should come first. Always.

“Do you remember when we touched ground?” she asked. “Do you remember the first step we took out there?”

He closed his eyes and his mind took him back there easily. It was one of his best memories, a perfect moment of peace, of _rightness_.

“The sun.” he said. “It was blinding.”

After a lifetime of living in artificially lit hallways and rooms, the natural sunlight had been… _different_. Warm.

“Yes. The light… The light is what I noticed first too.” she confessed in a hushed voice. “And then the breeze… The first time I felt air on my face… The water was sparkling… The smell… And the trees… There was green _everywhere_.”

He pressed another kiss on her forehead when he felt her tears soaking through his shirt. “We will survive, Abby.”

“Not like this.” She shook her head. “Earth is _so_ beautiful. Humans aren’t made to live in metal boxes, Marcus. We’ve seen the real world now. We can never go back to how we lived before. If you think we can find another place like Earth, another _planet_ … We should try.”

It went back to their old argument, he figured. Survival at all costs against survival with decency. The old Marcus, the man he had been on the Ark, would have seen that Gate buried and made the harsh decisions needed to make sure the SGC could work as a new Ark. The irony was, Abby would probably have fought tooth and nails to open the Gate.

But now…

They had changed.

He had always known that deep down but it had never been quite as obvious to him as at that particular moment.

Staying locked in that bunker would turn them back into who they used to be, he could see it already. Even the kids had started to misbehave again, rebelling against the fragile system in place, despite Bellamy and Clarke’s best attempts at defusing tensions.

They should try to make sure they deserved to stay alive.

And that implied exploring all options.

“Let’s try.” he said. “Together.”

“Together.” she echoed the now familiar promise.


	6. Babel Tower

Abby felt a strange sense of anticipation as she stood next to Marcus, watching the Gate through the observatory deck overlooking it – or _the control room_ as Bellamy and Marcus called it. Monty and Raven were sitting in front of them, tapping on their respective computers, Indra and Roan were standing on Marcus’ side while Clarke, Bellamy and Octavia were next to her.

It had taken a whole month for them to take the decision to open the Gate. They had deliberated and deliberated while Monty and Raven were putting the finishing touches to the taking over of General Carter’s programs. The Grounders had been hard to convince and it was only the increasingly difficult situation inside the base that had convinced Indra and Roan to try.

They had agreed that their first attempt should be to try and reach the Alpha site where the former SGC members, their families and some important politicians of the time had taken refuge. The iris would remain locked, all codes had been changed by Monty so they couldn’t force it open if they turned out to be hostile… They would talk through radio communications only.

“Okay, we’re ready to roll.” Raven declared. “Someone gives the order. _For posterity_. We’re making History here.”

Marcus looked around but nobody talked so he cleared his throat. “Dial the Gate.”

It was actually _cute_ how excited and proud he was. She discreetly bumped her shoulder with his, hiding her small smile.

“Here we go.” Raven grinned at Monty. “Raven Reyes and Monty Green for history books. _Again._ ”

The boy grinned right back and pressed a button. The outer ring started turning with a lot of squeaking and engine noises.

“Chevron One encoded.” Monty beamed. “Chevron Two… Encoded! It’s working!”

“Of course, it’s working.” Raven snorted. “We’re geniuses.”

There were five more chevrons to go through.

“Chevron seven is locked.” Monty yelled in victory. There was a blue flash but with the iris in place, the wormhole wave- _thing_ the reports warned about didn’t happen. “The Gate is open.”

Raven pushed the mic in their direction, her eyes passing over each one of them before coming back on Marcus. “Kane.”

Again, Marcus cleared his throat before sitting down to press the button that would allow him to be heard on the other side of the Gate. “Alpha site, this is Earth coalition, can you read us?”

All they got in answer was statics. Marcus looked at Raven and repeated himself but without getting any different result.

“Would they still be called Alpha site?” Clarke asked. “It’s been almost a century… They probably expanded.”

“They should still be able to answer though.” Bellamy shrugged. “Whatever they’re called.”

“Try again.” Abby suggested. He did and there wasn’t any answer. She shook her head. “Close the Gate.”

It was anticlimactic when the shimmering blue light stopped reflecting on the grey walls.

“Well.” Clarke sighed. “I guess that’s that.”

“We could try elsewhere.” Bellamy argued.

“There are probes in the storage rooms.” Raven said. “The MALP things. I’ve been tinkering with a few of them in my spare time… I have a couple ready to work. We could send one through. See what’s up on that site.”

“Should we?” Indra asked. “ _Bants key pleni soulou_.”

“Leaving well enough alone won’t help us in the long run, Indra.” Marcus commented, rolling his chair around to look at them. “Raven’s idea could work.”

“Kane.” Indra said firmly and Abby winced because the Grounders had been very resistant to using technology so far. “We accepted to try. We tried. Your technology…”

“I support Raven’s idea.” Roan cut in.

_“Yu beda na_.” Indra spat with obvious disdain. _“Chit haihefa hed op kom mami?_ ”

_You would. What sort of king rules with his…_ Abby’s knowledge in Grounder’s speech wasn’t good enough to grasp that last word but judging by everyone’s wince she could take a wild guess at what Indra had just accused him to let rule his head.

“ _Okay_.” Clarke said firmly before it could escalate but Roan straightened, his hand flying to his sword which prompted Indra to reach for hers and Marcus swiftly bolted out of his chair and between the two of them, a hand outstretched in each direction. 

“Everyone calm down.” he ordered.

“ _Em gyon au seitaim ef_.” Roan growled. “ _Azgeda ge nau na chip op gon Trikru_.”

_She goes too far. Azgeda won’t be insulted by Trikru._

Abby was certain that they were about to witness the start of a brand new Grounder war. Clarke reached out and pushed her mother behind her and Bellamy while Octavia circled wide around the king to stand next to her mentor. Marcus tossed her a disapproving look.

“We need to stand united.” he told both Grounders. “The coalition…”

“ _Em chip op gon ai.”_ Roan interrupted him. _“Em bed kof kom emon sonraun_.”

_She insults me. She should pay with her life_.

“Roan…” Abby winced. “Please, I’m sure…”

_“Teik em bants”_ Raven said. “Let it go.”

Every eyes turned to the mechanic, mainly because she _never_ spoke trigedasleng. Raven was only looking at Roan though. They stared at each other for a long minute before he bowed once and took his hand off his sword.

_“Yu ste kwelen.”_ Indra scowled.

It was a good thing Marcus was still standing in the middle – or maybe _not so much_ because Abby’s heart certainly skipped a beat. He blocked Roan when he made a grab for Indra and almost got knocked off his feet in the process. Bellamy immediately moved to help contain the king while Abby grabbed Indra’s arm, a little too aware that it wouldn’t take much for that sword to run through her  even though she _trusted_ the Grounder.

“Go take a walk.” she requested. “Calm down. We can’t afford a war right now. You know we can’t.”

_“Ai nou badan yu op, Abi kom Skaikru_.” Indra hissed, shaking her hand off. _I do not serve you_.

“Well, _no_. But…” Abby tried to argue.

_“Yu badan ai op_.” Clarke countered almost coldly, succeeding in bringing back some order in the control room. “ _Seken gon yu. Ai laik Heda.”_

_You serve me. The both of you. I am Heda._

Abby made a face, wishing her daughter didn’t have to play that card right now. It was a fragile one, her sway over the Grounders a tentative thing that a lot of them disputed – most of those had stayed behind but dissent was growing.

_“Nau ain_.” Indra snorted before tossing the lot of them an angry look and storming out with poise. _Not mine_.

_“Nau ain seinteim_.” Roan declared. _Not mine either_.

He shrugged off Bellamy’s and Marcus’ grip as they were nothing more than an inconvenience and left by the other door.

“Not the best moment to make a power play.” Octavia scoffed before following her mentor out the door.

The rest of them stood there in silence for a moment.

“That went well.” Bellamy deadpanned after a while.

“Abby?” Marcus asked. She searched his eyes and then nodded. He nodded back and turned to the mechanic. “Get the probe ready.”

“ _Without_ Trikru’s consent?” Clarke frowned. “Indra won’t like it.”

“Then she won’t like it.” Marcus shrugged. “She’s the only one who isn’t on board. I will talk to her but… If we can’t reach unanimity we will have to settle for majority. That’s how we did it before.”

“And that turned out so well for everyone.” Bellamy commented. “We can’t risk making things more tense with the Grounders…”

“It’s decided.” Abby declared in a tone that didn’t admit any argument.

The kids eventually scattered to their respective duties.

“Since when do you speak Grounder?” Bellamy frowned at Raven on their way out.

“King Useless taught me some.” the mechanic grumbled. 

“What else did he teach you?” Clarke teased, peeking above Bellamy’s shoulder to get a look at Raven.

Raven glared at both of them. “Shut _up_.”

Abby barely swallowed back the chiding _kids_ she wanted to shout at their back.

“That was a disaster.” Marcus sighed once they were left alone.

“Please don’t put yourself between two people armed with swords when _you_ don’t have any weapon again.” she demanded, pursing her lips. He blinked at her in that adorable way of his and she felt her annoyance melt, prompting her to roll her eyes. “You’re an idiot and I love you.”

His lips stretched into a smile despite the deep worry twisting his features. He took a step closer, bowing his head a little and lowering his voice, his hand finding hers. “I love you too.”

She got a little lost in the moment and it didn’t help that he so obviously wanted to kiss her. But she knew how _that_ would go. It would lead to other things and they didn’t have time for any of them right now. “You should go talk to Indra.”

“There’s the meeting with the stations’ heads in twenty minutes.” he reminded her.

“I’ll handle it alone.” she shrugged. “Avoiding a war is more important.”

He nodded his agreement and stole a short kiss before going in search of Indra.

The meeting was boring and brought more problems to light than solutions. Grounders weren’t made for life underground, Grounders were underfoot, Arkers were struggling to keep up with the increasing base’s demands… There was a feeling of resentment that _they_ were doing most of the practical work so shouldn’t it reflect on the rations they got?

Abby listened and nodded and took notes but basically told them to go on as they were for now.

She walked out of that meeting with the strong feeling their people were starting to think her and Marcus might not be the best people to lead them underground.

If nothing changed, they would be heading toward a riot of epic proportion she could see it. At best someone would call for new elections and they would be deposited, at worst… There would be another coup.

It was late by the time Raven was ready to launch the probe. Neither Indra nor Roan showed up and, somehow, it was almost a relief. The iris command had been programmed to respond to a few people only: Raven, Abby, Marcus, Clarke, Bellamy, Indra and Roan – and, Abby suspected Monty added himself to that list but she had no proof – it was Raven who opened the iris.

This time when the Gate flared to life there was a huge bluish wave darting out and back inside the ring again, as if a pebble had splashed into a puddle of water. It was impressive and a tiny bit scary and a few of them flinched. They tried establishing contact again but to no avail.

“Launching the MALP.” Raven declared, guiding the probe up the ramp.

The MALP had a camera and Abby watched through the screen as it went blue and then completely dark.

“We lost signal.” Monty frowned.

“What happened?” Clarke asked.

“I don’t know.” the boy answered, typing fast on the keyboard.

“We’re idiots.” Raven groaned. “That’s what happened. They’re the same people who built this base. _Of course_ , they have their own iris.”

“Another dead end.” Bellamy commented bitterly.

“Not necessarily.” Monty hesitated. “I could try to hack them.”

“Because nothing says _we come in peace_ like hacking into people’s computers.” Bellamy taunted.

“Maybe they left.” Clarke hesitated. “They have space ships… Maybe they just… left. And there’s an empty base on an empty planet waiting for us.”

“That would be good.” Abby sighed.

“And when things are too good to be true, I usually don’t trust them.” Bellamy countered.

“It’s worth a shot.” she hesitated. Clarke nodded, Raven lifted her hands to show she was on board either way and Bellamy shrugged. “Marcus?”

He was staring at the Gate with his arms folded over his chest, obviously calculating. “Do it.”

“You have a thirty minutes window for every try.” Raven told Monty. “No pressure.”

Monty and Raven stayed behind to work but Clarke, Bellamy, Marcus and Abby headed to the commissary to grab dinner. Food had become just as unappealing as what they used to have on the Ark, nothing truly fresh and nothing naturally grown on Earth.

She sat next to Clarke, leaving Bellamy and Marcus to sit on the other side of the table. Conversation was sporadic and kept turning back to the events of the day. Abby summed up her meeting for them and they agreed they needed to keep an eye on things in case anyone got the idea to _truly_ prepare a coup.

They walked back to the VIP quarters together she pretended she didn’t know, when she kissed Clarke’s cheek at her door, that her daughter would immediately sneak back out and into Bellamy’s room. That was a recent development, she thought, but one she and Marcus had picked up on easily enough. Just like Raven spending more and more time with Roan – even though she didn’t think anything had happened on _that_ front yet.

It felt ridiculous sometimes how protective they were of kids who weren’t really kids anymore.

She wrapped her arms around Marcus’ waist as soon as the door was closed and the lock safely turned – some of the younger guards had an annoying tendency of coming in without knocking. She buried her face between his shoulder blades, breathing the smell of his jacket in before untucking his shirt from his pants and sliding her hands underneath.

“Abby…”

She liked how breathless he sounded already even though she hadn’t done anything yet.

“Yes?” she said innocently, raising on tiptoe to playfully bite down on his neck.

In a moment she was pinned to the door by his hand on her chest. She smiled, her eyes twinkling with amusement as the tip of his fingers slowly slid under the V collar of her shirt, briefly bumping against the chain she never took off.

“Hard day.” he commented, lowering his mouth to her throat.

“It’s getting better already.” she grinned, pushing his jacket off his shoulders.

“It _is_ …” he chuckled, nibbling on the tender skin under her ear.

Abby let out a soft laugh that morphed into a pleasant sigh when hands started wandering under clothes.

They lost almost all of them on their way to the bed and the rest was discarded quickly after that.

When she fell asleep that night, it was to the knowledge that she hadn’t been _that_ happy in a long time. Everything was not perfect, that was true, but she was safe and content in Marcus’ arms, Clarke safe and sound down the hall. It was as close to true happiness as it got.

This was the moment she thought back to a week later when Monty told them he had managed to hack the Alpha site’s iris and when they all watched the probe wander on another world – _another world_ , she still had troubles with that. She could tell Indra didn’t like it one bit but was trying to put her apprehensions aside.

The off-world base was clearly abandoned. There were sheets on consoles and dust everywhere. They pushed the probe as far as it would go but they couldn’t find any trace of life. Raven declared all readings to be normal.

The next step was obvious.

And Abby thought back to that happiness she had felt that night.

“I will go and check it out.” Marcus volunteered.

“I’m coming.” Raven declared and nobody protested.

“Me too.” Bellamy shrugged.

“And me.” Octavia said before shooting Indra a questioning look. The Grounder nodded.

“I will go too.” Clarke decided.

_Obvious_.

“You will need a doctor.” Abby said, resigned.

“Abby, no.” Marcus shook his head. “We’ll have Clarke. We’ll do fine. You’re needed _here_.”

“You should stay behind this time, Mom.” her daughter approved.

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask _when_ they had started being of the same mind on everything but instead she nodded. She didn’t like the idea of Clarke and Marcus leaving for the other end of the galaxy, she didn’t like it _at all_. But right now… Right now she was more useful as a Chancellor _right there_ , trying to keep the coalition alive.

They were the diplomats, not her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only two chapters left! Let me know what you think!


	7. Eden

The silence in the bedroom was daunting.

Abby was sitting at the foot of the bed, tightening her shoelaces, lost in her thoughts. Marcus was already dressed and he watched her for a moment, committing her to memory.

They had made love that morning but it had tasted like goodbye and Marcus hated that.

There were risks in what they were about to do, _so many_ risks…

They had checked and rechecked they could open the iris from the other side, they had talked about possible rescue missions and contingency plans, they had talked about the GDOs (which from what he had gotten from Raven were remotes that would open their iris once they entered the right code – Raven’s birthday as it turned out ), they had carefully prepared the weapons they would be taking with them as well as the equipment… They were as ready as they were ever going to be when it came down to Gate travel.

It didn’t make it any less dangerous.

“Abby.” he said at last. They didn’t have much time left before he was scheduled to join the others in the Gate room.

She looked up at him and forced a smile that looked terribly fake. “I know.”

“We have to do this.” he insisted anyway.

She nodded. “I just _hate_ sending you off on diplomatic missions. You _always_ manage to come back hurt.”

“But I always _come back_.” he pointed out, joining her at the foot of the bed. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and when she melt into his side, he pressed a long kiss on her head. “I don’t like the idea of leaving you behind either.”

Last time he had left her behind, she had been tortured, her mind stolen from her and memories she cherished had been wiped clean. He would never forget and he would never forgive himself for not insisting more for her to leave with them. He knew, deep down, that she would never have. She was Abby Griffin and Abby Griffin saved people, that was who she was. She had needed to stay just like he had needed to leave. It didn’t make the prospect of another separation any easier.

“I will be fine.” she promised, propping her chin on his shoulder. “I’m sure David, Harper and Nathan understood your _specific_ instructions to never let me wander anywhere without one of them.” He winced and she laughed. “Did you _truly_ think I wouldn’t find out about that?”

He shrugged. “Who gave it away?”

“Murphy.” she grinned. “Who is supposed to discreetly shadow me and make sure nobody tries to murder me.”

In retrospect, he should have known better than ask Murphy and Emori for help. “What did it cost you?”

“Nothing.” she mocked. “He likes me now. We bonded in a time of crisis.” She said it lightly but with enough inherent sadness that he could take a wild guess at _when_ that had happened. She studied him. “What did it cost you?”

“Two shirts and half my rations for a week.” he sighed. “That’s the Chancellor discount apparently. Then again he doesn’t like _me_.”

She shook her head at him with fondness and a bit of exasperation before brushing her hand against his cheek. “I will be safe. _You_ have to stay safe too.”

He kissed her deep, wishing they could _never_ stop, wishing things were easier and they were still in Arkadia where their greatest concern would have been deciding about planting crops on the right or on the left side of camp.

“I love you.” he whispered against her lips.

“I love you too.” she answered in the same manner.

It was difficult to detach themselves from each other, difficult to leave _Marcus_ and _Abby_ behind to go be the Chancellors.

The others were already in the Gate room, already geared up and ready to go. Octavia was talking with Indra and Roan, Bellamy, Clarke and Raven were laughing… Marcus slipped on his backpack, clipped his gun to his vest, adjusted the odd unfamiliar weight of the _zat’nik’tel_ against his thigh, and cleared his throat.

“Are we ready?” he asked around. He only got nods so he turned to the control room where Monty and Jasper were sitting behind the computers and gave them the signal. They all stood aside while the Gate dialed.

“Be careful.” Abby begged Clarke, hugging her for dear life.

“I will, don’t worry.” her daughter promised before lowering her voice – but Marcus heard all the same. “I’ll make sure he comes back in one piece.”

“ _All of you_ should come back in one piece.” Abby countered. “But _please_ do. I don’t trust his self-sacrificing tendencies.”

Clarke laughed and nodded, escaping her mother’s arms to go stand next to Bellamy.

Raven was patting Abby’s shoulder for her own hug when the Gate flared to life. She was laughing too. “Don’t worry, Abby, I’ll get that lot of dumbass back here for you.”

“Don’t be reckless and watch out for your leg.” Abby instructed.

Octavia was treated to a hug too. She suffered it tolerably well, even briefly giving in to it before stepping away with her warrior scowl in place. Bellamy didn’t even try to escape it, he just opened his arms and hugged her tight.

“ _SG1, it’s a go.”_ Monty told them through the mic.

Marcus frowned. “SG1? I don’t remember we agreed on a codename...”

“Don’t be a spoilsport, Kane.” Bellamy teased. “We’re SG1, new generation.” The kid looked at him from head to toes and then snorted. “Well, _we_ are. You’re more the tag along dad who wants to do what the kids do. It’s a bit sad actually.”

“It is.” Clarke joined in, her eyes twinkling in mischief. 

Marcus blinked, his lips twitching in amusement despite himself. “ _Chancellor_ , here.”

“If they respected _that_ , we would know by now.” Abby sighed but he could tell she was amused too.

“Oh, we respect Chancellor _Griffin_.” Octavia cut in, joining the fun. “Abby has the scary mom look.”

“You _all_ used to be scared of me.” Marcus argued.

“Key words? _Used to_.” Raven taunted, limping toward the ramp. “We’re doing this or what?” She stopped at the foot of the ramp and turned back to where the two Grounder leaders were waiting in silence for all of them to start behaving with a little more dignity. “Oh, _fuck it_.” She limped right back to them, fisted the front of Roan’s jacket and _pulled_ so she could coil her other hand around his neck. The kiss was hard, messy, tongues were obviously involved and it was very embarrassing to witness. The mechanic drew back and licked her lips. “Just in case, you know… We die or something.”

 _“Yu laik nau teik wan op,_ Raven Reyes.” Roan replied. _You are forbidden to die._

“Yeah, hold on to that thought.” the mechanic laughed, walking back toward the Gate.

She had begged to be allowed to go first.

Marcus would have preferred if it had been him or Bellamy but he had caved. She had a gun, she knew how to use it… 

She took a deep breath and then stepped into the event horizon. The kids walked in the blue puddle one after the other, leaving him to take the rear. He glanced over his shoulder at Abby one last time and then he breathed out as was advised before taking the step that would take him to the other side.

It was like crash landing on Earth. Except _worse_.

He instinctively gasped for breath once on the other side, feeling as if his body had been frozen, twisted and then thrust around inside a washing machine.

The trip clearly hadn’t affected Raven too much because she was still over the moon. Bellamy and Octavia looked alright too… Clarke was a little green and they exchanged sympathetic winces as they tried to catch their breath.

The Gate died behind them, plunging them in complete darkness.

He switched on the flashlight on his gun and the others did the same, the small beams of light bounced on consoles and concrete walls, not providing much information on their surroundings.

“I’ve got the DHD.” Raven said, her flashlight aimed at the Gate’s control panel. She quickly dialed Earth while he and Clarke hastily moved away from the wormhole’s range. They all breathed a sigh of relief when it actually worked.

Their radio immediately buzzed with statics. _“Marcus?”_

Abby’s voice was good to hear and he smiled despite himself when he grabbed his own radio. “We made it through in one piece and we have a way home.”

“You’re supposed to call us SG1, you know.” Raven chided Abby in her own radio.

“Everything seems calm around here.” he told Abby. “We’re going to look around. We’ll make contact in five hours, as planned.”

 _“Be careful_.” Abby begged. _“All of you.”_

“Don’t worry, Mom.” Clarke butted in. “We’ve got this.”

It soon turned out this base wasn’t underground. After a few corridors, they found windows that provided natural sunlight and Marcus started to relax. They toured the whole place and after triple checking for radiation of any sort, they wandered outside. There were more buildings but some of them were in states of disrepair, others were completely ruined.

The air smelt strangely salty and a little damp.

It was Octavia who found the cliff a few feet away from the Alpha site, hidden by trees. Huge waves crashed against the rocks, birds chirped in the sky…

Marcus took a second to close his eyes and simply enjoy the feeling.

After weeks of being trapped underground and the recurring dreading thought that they would never feel the sunlight on their skin again… This felt like paradise.

“We can never go back to living inside.” Clarke declared in a low voice, coming to a stop next to him. “We need this place to work out.”

“This place or another.” he agreed.

The Alpha site was a big complex that stretched like a very small town. There was a habitations area with small little houses – it seemed to be the more damaged area – empty labs, a medical facility, storage buildings with jeeps that made Raven squeal in delight… They checked out everything to make sure it was safe but the place seemed to have been abandoned for a very long time. The only things of interest that had been left behind were the cars and Marcus suspected they were only there because they were too big and impractical to travel wherever their ancestors went.

There were no traces of battle, no skeletons, nothing indicating they had been removed by force.

“Raven, try to restore power if you can. Octavia, stay with her for cover.” Marcus ordered. “Bellamy, sweep the base again, check _everything_ and start thinking of possible defenses we could put in place. If we bring more people here, I want to be certain it’s a viable option.” He nodded at Clarke. “Are you up for some exploring?” Clarke shrugged with a smile and he studied all the kids in turn. “We’re radio checking every half hour. Everyone stays sharp.”

“Yes, sir.” Bellamy said, pushing the others into compliance.

Marcus and Clarke headed to the woods at the edge of the compound. The trees were tall and not at all the same species that were growing near Arkadia. It looked like an odd hybrid between forest and jungle. He was fascinated by everything from the huge butterflies to the sound of the waves. They followed the cliff edge for a solid fifteen minutes before they found a steep path leading down to what seemed to be a pebble beach.

They hesitated, wary of sudden unpredictable tides, but in the end curiosity won and they ventured on the beach, trying not to twist their ankles on the pebbles. Waves licked at their boots, the smell of salt was even stronger here.

“Do you think it’s a sea or an ocean?” he asked Clarke, crouching at the edge of the water, fascinated by the coming and going of the waves.

“I don’t know.” she shrugged. “But we need to find clear water if we’re seriously thinking about moving here.”

“Water and potential food.” he agreed, dipping his hand in the water. It was cool and translucent. He could spot small fishes further from shore. “We could build boats.”

“Mom’s going to love this.” Clarke grinned, sitting right next to him, apparently not caring that her pants would be damp. It was warm though and after a second of reflection, Marcus sat down too. “She always had this thing for oceans. She collected old pictures and stuff. I used to draw it for her every birthday. Dad always tried to get me new blue pencils so I could do hues properly…” Her lips pursed and she averted her eyes. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry for mentioning Jake.” he countered, gentle but firm. “I know I never said…”

“ _Don’t_.” she cut him off. “I don’t need apologies.”

It was his turn to avert his eyes. He and Clarke had gotten spectacularly well since they had all reunited on the ground but they had never talked about the elephant in the room and now that he and Abby…

“Jake was my friend.” he offered quietly. “I know what he means to your mother, what he means to you… I would never… I’m not trying to _replace_ him, Clarke.”

It was a long minute before she nodded. “I know.”

Marcus licked his lips and let his gaze explore the endless horizon. “Jake is a part of Abby. I would never deny her that. Or _you,_ for that matter.”

She made a pebble turn in her hand again and again. “You really love her, don’t you?”

“More than anything.” he answered honestly.

She watched him for a while and then looked down again. “You make her happy. It’s a good thing. I don’t… I’m _okay_ with it, Kane, you don’t have to worry.”

He cleared his throat, flashing her a small smile. “Thank you.”

She shook her head with a smile of her own and got to her feet, holding out a hand to help him up. “Let’s go find clear water.”

It took them twenty minutes to find a river. Clarke took samples they could test while he kept watch but if there was a hostile presence on this planet, it was well hidden. The jungle was tricky and they would probably need to learn about its natural dangers but the whole place seemed like a better option than Cheyenne Mountain. They could probably take everything they needed with them and build the rest. Whoever had designed the Alpha site had been prepared for a long stay.

“Where do you think they went?” Clarke asked, as they were hiking back toward the base. “This camp is good. Why would they leave it?”

“For more?” he suggested. “Maybe they found a better planet… Maybe the people who left by ships came for them… We’re not sure what happened to Atlantis…” The reports on that front had been vague and difficult to decipher. “Maybe they found it again.”

“A flying city…” Clarke sighed. “I know it could come in handy but it would feel too much like the Ark.”

“We will need to explore further away from the Alpha site before we decide if we want to move in or not.” he declared. “We need to make sure we won’t walk straight into another war.”

He could do without a brand new _Grounders threat_.

“I agree.” Clarke approved. “Indra, Roan and Mom should check it out anyway so the coalition stands on equal footing.”

“Yes.” he nodded. “We can have a few more people over. Volunteers. But we shouldn’t give up on our options. I still think developing some sort of Gate exploration program would be worth it in the long run. We have coordinates where they found allies in the past… We could try to renew alliances with them. Establish some sort of trade system… If we really move people here, we could use Earth as a harbor of sort, centralize gate teams there, organize rotations… It would be safer this way.”

He was so focused on what they could do he was firing ideas without giving her a chance to answer and it took him five minutes to realize she was giving him the same amused look Abby had given him in Polis.

“Mom’s right.” Clarke grinned. “You’re really cut out to be Chancellor.”

He felt himself blush a little under a compliment he still didn’t think he deserved.

“I just want the best for our people.” he protested.

“You don’t want _just_ the best. You want the _most_.” she shrugged. “That’s the difference. It’s not just about survival to you.”

He hesitated for a second and then it was his turn to shrug, a little sheepish. “Someone very wise once told me we should make sure we _deserve_ to stay alive.”

A small smile played on Clarke’s lips and he knew he didn’t have to elaborate on _who_ exactly had said that. 

“Dad would have loved this.” she said, as the compound came into view. “Not just _Earth,_ but a gate that opens on other _planets_ … He would have loved this.”

It wasn’t difficult to imagine Jake down there with them, smiling wildly at the adventure ahead, at the rare pieces of alien technology… And yet… The Ground had changed everyone in some ways, he couldn’t help but wonder if Jake would have truly thrived down there. Keeping a cool head had never been his friend’s forte. Abby sometimes let her emotions rule her head but she always kept the bigger picture in mind. Jake now…

Clarke looked, if not happy, at least content however and he didn’t want to spoil that for her.

“He would have.” he offered.

The smile morphed into a beaming grin and he had the distinct feeling he had just passed some sort of test. He supposed it was simply good they could _talk_ about Jake. The subject had been mostly left alone with Abby but, then again, Abby and her daughter were different. Abby reasoned in terms of before and after the Ark fell to the Ground. To Clarke there was no such clear distinction, the whole thing was a long string of related events.

Everything was calm when they walked back into the Alpha site. Bellamy greeted them with a nod and a smile for the girl he thought nobody knew he was in love with.

“Raven says she needs spare parts if we want power.” the boy told them. “It’s nearly time to contact the SGC anyway. One of us should head back and debrief the council.”

Marcus nodded. “Send Octavia. Maybe it will make Indra more at ease with the whole thing. And ask them for reinforcements along with whatever Raven needs. I want to start looking around properly. Map out the area.”

“Tell them to send some of the horses over.” Clarke ordered and faced with their inquisitive faces she winced. “There are horses hidden in the spare storage rooms on the upper levels. _My_ Grounders like their horses and they don’t share Azgeda’s ideas about them being good meat.”

The fact that she had managed to hide _horses_ from him in a base he toured everyday was impressive. But then again Clarke _was_ impressive. He waved his go ahead to Bellamy.

Once Octavia was gone through the Gate, they set camp outside the main building for the night. It was downright chilly which was surprising given how warm the day had been but Marcus put that on unpredictable weathers on strange planets.

“It’s weird.” Bellamy said after a while, his eyes turned upwards. “Stars aren’t in the right place.”

“ _They_ ’re in the right place.” Raven argued. “ _You_ ’re not, dumbass.”

“It’s a whole new Earth to learn.” Clarke sighed, resting her head on Bellamy’s shoulder.

They all watched the stars in silence for a while before Marcus cleared his throat. “Is that what we’re calling it? New Earth?”

Raven wrinkled her nose and poked the fire with a long branch. “It sucks.”

Clarke rolled her eyes. “You can do the naming since you’re both so clever.”

The mechanic grinned, wriggling her eyebrows. “I vote for Reyes.” Both Clarke and Bellamy snorted, prompting Raven to chuckle. “Oh, come on, it’s not worse than _New Earth_. We should vote. What do you say, Kane? You want to give your name to this planet too?”

“He’s more the kind to want to name it after Abby.” Bellamy teased.

It was Marcus’ turn to roll his eyes but he did so with a fond smile on his lips. He was distracted though, seriously pondering the question.

It was his mother’s voice that gave him the answer, coming from the far end of his memory.

“Eden.” he suggested.

The Tree she had tended to all her life was lost now but the name could survive.

“Eden.” Clarke repeated slowly and, because she was sometimes as perceptive as Abby, she flashed him a small smile. “Your mom would have liked that.”

He smiled back at her, appreciating the words. There was a murmur of agreement between Raven and Bellamy and he figured it was done. The Alpha site was renamed. _Eden_. A promise.

Silence fell though, a bit embarrassed on the others’ part. Marcus didn’t really notice, his mind was elsewhere, suddenly lost to a grief he had barely had time to address, let alone process.

“She scolded me so badly once, I burst into tears.” Raven said suddenly. “Vera. I thought it would be a good idea to take the Tree out of its pot so it could breathe.” Faced with their incredulous gazes, she shrugged. “Hey, I was _six_.” Her lips stretched into a smile. “Then she comforted me and explained all about trees and plants. She was always so nice…”

Clarke and Bellamy nodded their agreement.

He wasn’t surprised the kids all had fond memories of his mother. Vera Kane had always fascinated children mainly because she knew so many stories and was always willing to humor them. She had been an extraordinary woman.

This wasn’t the Eden she had been hoping for.

But, perhaps, it could be just as good if not better.

At least, that was what he firmly told himself the next morning when Indra passed the Gate, leading a spooked horse by the reins, followed by a handful of Grounders and guards carrying everything Raven had required.

 _“Mounin hou.”_ he greeted her. _Welcome home._

“ _Ste em hou?”_ Indra retorted a tad ironically. _Is it home?_

“Come and see.” he grinned, leading her outside.

She closed her eyes when the small salty breeze caressed her face and she took a deep breath. He waited patiently for her to reacquaint herself with the feeling of being _outside_ and silently followed when she wandered around the ruins of the compound. He started explaining what they could do, how they could organize if they decided to colonize the planet, so the different tribes didn’t have to live all over each other, and she listened and nodded at several points.

“It seems I owe you an apology, my friend.” she declared after several minutes. “This was worth the risk. _Brana hod, brana stot au._ ”

 “I hope so.” he offered. “I honestly hope so.” 

_A new world, a new beginning._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one chapter left! I hope you like this chapter! Let me know!


	8. The Promised Land

It took everything Abby had in her not to throw up when she emerged on the other side of the Gate.

“Don’t worry, you get used to it after a few times.” Jasper told her, emerging right behind her and nudging her shoulder so she would keep walking and not stay where everyone would bump into her. Jasper was at his fourth trip to Eden, she thought, and like the rest of the kids, he was already acting as if gate travel was nothing extraordinary. How quickly they could all get so _blasé_ about something so astonishing left her speechless.

“Welcome to Eden, Chancellor Griffin.” Wick greeted her with a smile, before starting to shout instructions to the Grounders and Arkers carrying supplies. He was in charge of Eden’s Gateroom when Raven was busy elsewhere from what she had understood.

“Hey.” Octavia offered with more familiarity. She flashed Abby a small smile, a hand on her sword.

“Hi.” Abby replied, craning her neck to take everything in. Eden’s Gateroom was smaller than Cheyenne Mountain’s but it was obvious everyone had made themselves at home in the last couple of months. “Where are the others?”

And by _others_ she meant the rest of the coalition Council who had abandoned the SGC to her for _two months_ to go play explorers. Marcus had come and gone in the beginning but had soon stayed behind to lead exploratory missions before they actually started colonizing for good, and Indra joined him so frequently Octavia was left in charge of Trikru more often than not. As for Roan, he had been slower in deserting the mountain but he had eventually taken a group of his warriors and had joined the others on Eden. The necessity to have a doctor on hand had prompted Jackson to volunteer to go off-world too and Abby had been left not only in charge of most of the politics but also with a swamped infirmary.

It had been a whole three weeks since she had last seen Marcus, she barely saw Clarke as it was, so during the last briefing she had stomped her foot down and declared she would go see what the fuss was about and that Clarke and Bellamy could keep the fort for a change. Clarke was left in charge of the Grounders and Bellamy in charge of the Arkers. She hoped it wouldn’t be a disaster.

“Kane and Indra are out north. They should be back in a few days.” Octavia reported. “Raven’s in the infirmary trying to make the _whatever_ scan work and I guess Roan’s around.”

She acknowledged that with a nod and a curious look for the corridors that headed out of the room. “Can you give me a tour?”

“Sure.” Octavia grinned with an enthusiasm she hadn’t seen in a long time coming from the girl. It made her smile. She was starting to heal, perhaps.

The tour of the Gate’s building was done very fast because Abby couldn’t help but stop at every window to look outside with yearning. It had been _so long_ since she had felt the wind on her face and the sun on her skin that she could have _wept_ when Octavia finally guided her out.

It smelt different than on Earth, the air was slightly more salty and it smelt like only rich earth after rain could. Roofs were glistening under the sunshine, clouds were still lingering in the sky and she tossed her head back and took everything in because _rain, and air and sunshine…_ All things she had thought she would never see again.

“You need to check out the woods when you can.” Octavia offered. “It’s so different… More like a jungle really. But it makes hunting fun. I can’t wait until you taste some monkey…”

Abby _could_ wait to taste monkey but she nodded, unwilling to damper the girl’s obvious joy at the prospect – although to be honest, it was probably the idea of seeing Abby wincing and forcing herself to chew that had Octavia so excited about it. On some levels, Octavia and Clarke weren’t _that_ different when it came down to mocking her.

She had seen pictures during the various briefings but the work they had all accomplished around the compound was impressive. The habitation area was being restored, little houses were starting to emerge from the ruins – hybrids between Grounder style and Arkers… One of the storage rooms had been converted into a cured meat workshop – monkey, she figured, although they might have caught some other species out there. There were people building more boats for fishing or working on the electric fences that were slowly being erected around camp…

“And that’s the medical place.” Octavia declared at last, stopping in front of a building they had passed by at least three times. “Raven should be somewhere in there.”

The girl wandered back to her usual occupations and Abby entered Eden’s Medical alone. It was smaller than Cheyenne Mountain’s infirmary and, after having gotten used to all the fancy equipment again, it felt a bit rustic. There were few patients in the main room and Jackson hugged her tight as soon as he saw her, explaining everything in a rush and showing her so many things at once that it made her dizzy. She interrupted him with a laugh and asked after Raven.

“She’s out back with the machines.” Jackson sighed, shaking his head. “We can’t get the PET scan to work.”

She left him to his patients and wandered down corridors a little at random, trying to get a feel of the place. It was organized, that much was clear, whoever had built it had had efficiency in mind. It didn’t take her long to find the PET scan room. She stepped out almost as soon as she stepped in because she had caught sight of Raven slipping a red tank top back on.

She winced and waited in the corridor for the – obligatory – awkward explanation but it never came. Raven was too busy laughing to have spotted her.

“Oh, come on…” the mechanic joked. “You can’t keep calling yourself _ice king_. There’s no ice here. It’s hot. And hot is good. It beats your tundra.”

“You’ve never been to my tundra, _rowen_.” Roan scoffed.

Abby closed her eyes in utter mortification, wondering what were the chances of her getting caught if she tried to leave right then. They hadn’t heard her wander around because they had obviously been… _busy_. But Roan would _certainly_ hear her if she moved. He was the best tracker they had.

“Good thing too.” Raven retorted and Abby could hear the grin in her voice. “I don’t like ice.”

“ _Sef ai.”_ he chuckled. _Except me._

There was a startled giggle and then noises that could only mean _kissing_ and Abby slowly crept down the corridor, one small step at a time not to be detected, feeling absolutely ridiculous.

“I’ve talked to Kane.” Raven said suddenly. “He doesn’t want to give me a spot on a team.”

Abby stopped and frowned.

“We still haven’t voted on that gate program idea of his.” Roan reminded her. “For now it is not even a thing. Do not worry.”

“You _know_ it’s _going_ to be a thing.” the mechanic sighed. “Once he brings Abby on board… It’s going to happen. And it’s going to be _awesome_. And I will be stuck here or on Earth playing with computers because I’m a liability, and the worst is… I get it.”

_Gate program_. 

How many things had gotten discussed on Eden while _she_ was stuck on Earth?

Irritation flared in her belly.

“Raven, if there is a gate program I can promise you Azgeda will have its own set of teams.” Roan declared. “I would lead one.”

“I thought it wasn’t your way.” Raven mocked, a little bitterly.

“Someone convinced me we should change our ways.” he retorted in the same mocking tone.

“Can you even leave?” the young woman asked. “You’re a king or whatever. You’re just going to go play on other planets and leave your subjects to someone else?”

“ _Haihefa_ _ban aut taim os haiplana hed op in emon rein.”_ he said calmly. _Kings leave when they have the right queen to rule in their stead_. “Look at Kane and Abby.”

“Roan.” Raven growled. “I’m no queen.”

“But you _could_ be.” he argued and then switched topics. “You will have a place in Azgeda’s team when you wish it, Raven Reyes. You are not defenseless and you are no liability. I will protect you if need arises and my warriors will guard their queen with their lives. They recognize strength. As do I.”

“I’m _not_ a queen.” the mechanic hissed.

There were more kissing sounds and this time Abby operated a quick retreat before they stopped again.

“Did you find her?” Jackson asked innocently when she came back to the main room. There was a twinkle in his eyes that made her think he had had a pretty good idea of what she might have walked in on.

She pursed her lips and gave him her best unimpressed look and he had the good grace of ducking his head and explaining some more about how he had organized Medical. It didn’t take him long to walk her through it since she had trained him and he had mostly followed her usual patterns.

Still, it took a good half hour for Raven and Roan to reappear. The mechanic immediately hugged her, already talking about getting a drink later so they could catch up, before scurrying away to repair more things that needed her to work her magic.

Roan didn’t hug her but he did place a hand on her shoulder on his way out with a small amused smile.

“You do not yet have the gait of a hunter, _Haiplana_.” he teased.

She tried not to be mortified. After all, it wasn’t _her_ who had been having sex during work hours – not _this_ time at least – in a public place. It wasn’t her fault if she had caught them.

And that was exactly what she told Raven later that evening when they sat down near the makeshift bar Jasper was tending, in front of a newly built campfire, chiding her a little for her inappropriate activities behind open doors, because she _ought_ to - she _was_ Chancellor after all. Raven’s only answer was to laugh.

“How do you kids always manage to make moonshine everywhere anyway?” Abby asked, eyeing the translucent liquid in her glass with caution.

“Because we’re _that_ awesome.” Raven shrugged. “And because Grounders like their mead.”

She waved at a group of Grounders who were sitting next to a campfire a little further away, nursing big glasses full of something amber colored. Some of the men noticed her and waved back good-naturally.

“You made friends.” Abby observed.

“They’re part of Roan’s private guard.” Raven shrugged. “And they’re not that bad. For Ice Nation.”

“Your soon to be subjects.” she teased a little. “Tell me when I should start calling you _Azplana_.”

The younger woman rolled her eyes. “Oh, go float yourself. Octavia is mocking me enough as it is.” Abby pursed her lips at the vulgar language but the moonshine had relaxed her enough that she didn’t comment on it. Raven didn’t mean anything by it anyway. The mechanic took a sip of her glass and then outstretched her bad leg closer to the fire. “I’m not going to be his queen anyway. That’s _way_ too much pressure.”

Abby turned her glass in her hands distractedly. “Marcus made me Chancellor. Twice.”

Raven studied her for a moment and then burst out laughing, taking another mouthful. “What is it with guys and wanting to put crowns on our heads?”

She shook her head, unable to fight the smile off her lips. “I have no idea. I suppose it means they trust us.”

Raven rolled her eyes again before going back to watching her with that unbearable twinkle in her eyes that meant teasing was about to occur. “How long has it been since you’ve seen him?”

Abby let out a long frustrated sigh. “Three weeks. He only stayed two days though.”

“Poor you.” the mechanic mocked.

She nodded sadly, downing her glass in one go. “Poor me.”

Eden _was_ a beautiful place.

Octavia took her to the forest – or jungle depending on one’s definition of it – and showed her around as much as she could without actually getting too far away from camp. Raven led her to the cliff and the pebble beach that stretched for miles and she got tears in her eyes at the sight of the ocean – or sea, they were still debating on that. Jackson introduced her to the local plants and the various tests they had made on them so far…

It was all very good.

But Abby was anxious for Indra and Marcus’ exploration mission to be _over_.

They were out of radio range and while they had never found any proof that the planet was inhabited by anyone else, she still felt anxious about the lasting silence.

Which was why she was so relieved one morning, as she drank what passed for her morning herbal tea in that place, to hear the chaotic rumbling of hooves. There was a shout near the main gates, a call to open them, and Abby followed the flow of Grounders and Arkers who naturally congregated in the middle of camp to welcome their friends.

Indra was riding ahead, every bit the Trikru leader, and nodded at Octavia with fondness when she spotted her second.

Marcus was in the middle of the Trikru warriors and there was definitely _something_ to be said about Marcus Kane on top of a horse. He was too busy talking with David Miller to notice her when he dismounted. She took great pleasure in sneaking behind him. David saw her approach but aside for an amused smile, he didn’t betray her.

Marcus only straightened at the perceived presence at his back when she was close enough to touch.

“You’ve been a stranger.” she accused.

He turned around with such a beaming expression on his face that her irritation melted away.

“Abby…” he breathed out and she found herself smiling.

She didn’t know who reached out first but the next moment they were locked in a tight embrace, her nose in his neck as he bowed down to better hold her. She knew it was stupid but she had missed him so much she never wanted to let go.

“What are you doing here?” he asked against her hair. “How long have you been here? Where is your guard?”

She chuckled a little. “I wanted to see for myself. I have been here for four days. And I told John and Emori that they could stop looking like fearsome assassins shadowing me.”

“And the _official_ guard?” he chided her, drawing back enough to look at her with fond annoyance. “You’re Chancellor. You shouldn’t…”

“Where is _your_ guard?” she retorted. Miller, who was politely _not_ looking at them and tending to their horses, waved his hand in the air with obvious amusement. She winced. “Oh.”

“ _Oh_.” Marcus repeated, his eyes twinkling in amusement. He couldn’t be really irritated though because his smile was bright and he drew her against him once more.

She rose on tiptoe to briefly rest her cheek on his shoulder before whispering in his ear. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” he confessed, low enough that Miller wouldn’t hear.

David cleared his throat. “I will go take care of the horses, sir.”

“Yes, thank you.” Marcus dismissed him, never looking away from Abby. He was grinning hard as if he couldn’t believe she was really there. “Have you been to the ocean yet? I was hoping to take you…”

“Octavia showed me around.” she told him. He looked disappointed. He actually pouted like a kicked puppy. “I’m sure there are a lot of things I haven’t seen yet.”

He brightened up at that. “The pond. Did they show you the pond?”

She shook her head, unable to suppress a smile at his obvious enthusiasm. He grabbed her hand and she had a feeling he would have dragged her straight to that pond if she hadn’t dug her heels in the ground.

“You need some food first.” she argued. She wrinkled her nose. “And a shower probably. You smell like horses.”

He laughed but surrendered to those requests easily.

“Where have you been staying?” he asked as they walked. She let him lead the way, simply glad to be able to walk beside him under the sun again. It had been entirely _too long_. 

“In Medical.” she shrugged. She hadn’t bothered making herself at home since she would probably need to go back to Earth in a few days.

“Good.” he declared and before she could ask what was _good_ about that, he steered her away in the direction of the small houses. She understood what he had in mind when he led her to a building that had obviously been patched up recently. The door creaked when he pushed it open. “The roof is still leaking.” he warned her. “I haven’t found out how to fix that yet.”

She stood on the threshold and took everything in. It was small, a big room where the bed took most of the space and a metallic table with two lonely chairs next to basic kitchen equipment – which wasn’t a problem because she didn’t think either of them had actually ever _cooked_ anything complicated – there was a threadbare rug on the floor, a window in the kitchen area with tattered curtains, and a crude fireplace made out of broken bricks in a corner. A door led to another smaller room with a shower, a sink and toilets. She didn’t think two people could stand in the bathroom at the same time but it was private at least.

The work he had put to repair the house was obvious.

“I know it’s not exactly great yet…” he hesitated, clearing his throat. “But I was hoping…”

“Yes.” she grinned. It wasn’t as good as their room in Cheyenne Mountain, that was true. But it was _a house_. They had always lived in _compartments_ , sharing walls with someone else. A house seemed like a new step, a new _life_. “I love it.” She turned on herself to take everything in, her smile growing even more. “I _love_ it, Marcus.”

He smiled back, nudging the door shut with his foot. She was in his arms before he even had time to reach for her and _finally_ they were kissing. His hands tangled in her hair, her fingers eagerly unfastening his jacket… They stumbled blindly toward the bed, too busy kissing to look where they were going, tugging at clothes and hands roaming on uncovered skin.

She wasn’t surprised he slowed the kisses down when they finally dropped on the bed, his fingers teasing and leaving goosebump in their wake as he got rid of the last pieces of fabric covering her. Given the choice, Marcus always wanted to take his time, make it last, torture her into bliss… She flipped them over and straddled him, in no mood for anything slow.

It had been too long.

He brushed her hair behind her shoulder, a knowing smile on his lips.

“You’re so impatient, Abby…” he teased.

“That’s why you love me.” she reminded him, leaning down to drop hot kisses on his throat while his hands found her flesh once more.

“I do.” he said softly, very seriously. “I love you.”

She lost any ability to form a coherent thought after that. She chuckled when he chanted her name as she rode him and stopped laughing when he flipped them over and it was her turn to whimper and moan and repeat his name with increasing frenzy.

Afterward, they remained lying in each other’s arms, on their sides, his leg trapped firmly between hers and his hand gently running up and down her arm from shoulder to elbow, staring at each other and grinning like idiots.

“We’re ridiculous.” she declared.

He nodded his agreement, his eyes twinkling with amusement. His face softened eventually and he leaned in to press a kiss on her lips.

“Eden is a good place.” he offered. “I think we should start the permanent move.”

“And start a Gate travel program mostly based and monitored from Earth?” she teased.

He frowned. “How do you…”

“I heard about it from almost _everyone_.” she snorted. “What I would like you to tell me is _why_ I’m the last to know.”

She didn’t even try to hide her irritation. She loved him, of course she did, but she didn’t like being kept out of the loop, exiled on Earth by herself while everyone else was out there taking decisions without consulting her. It reminded her a bit too much of the time Clarke had declared Abby may have been Chancellor but _she_ was in charge.

“I wanted to tell you about it myself.” Marcus sighed. “I wouldn’t have taken any decision without talking it through with you.”

He sounded almost hurt that she could suspect him of duplicity and she rolled her eyes because she had never thought he would do anything without warning her first. He had a tendency to grow excited on certain projects though. She remembered the way his face had lighted up in the streets of Polis… Before they had been drenched in blood, that was.

“I think it’s a good idea.” she declared. She could tell he was surprised, she could also tell he had thought he would need to convince her. Now that she had seen what they had done with Eden though… The Gate didn’t look as dangerous as it used to, not if they were careful and took preventive measures. It was an amazing tool full of possibilities. And she wanted to hope for the best. “You are _not_ leading one of the teams though.” And since it sounded too much like an order she had no right to give, she winced and amended. “Are you?”

She wouldn’t stand in his way if that would make him happy but… She didn’t like the idea of it.

He coiled his fingers around her shoulder, holding tight, his gaze lost to a faraway future.

“I would like to go sometimes. To possibly negotiate trades or…” He stopped and shrugged. “But I wouldn’t lead a team full time, no. Bellamy was very clear SG1 was his anyway.” He looked at her and smiled. “We’re Chancellors, we should be here for our people, not half a galaxy away.”

It was obvious he would have loved it though and thus she found herself pressing a kiss on his forearm, right over the scar marking them as the thirteenth clan.

“Apparently, there is a Grounder phrase that says if the queen is competent, the king can go explore.” she told him quietly.

“We’re not Grounders and it wouldn’t be fair on you.” he argued. “Besides… We should let the kids have this. It’s their future. I’ll just tag along from time to time.”

“Like the dad who wants to do like the kids do?” she teased, remembering Bellamy’s taunting.

He let out a little laugh, gathering her closer to his chest and burying his nose in her hair. “What can I say? I _like_ embarrassing them.”

“It’s fun, isn’t it?” she laughed too.

Eventually, their amusement died down and she started drifting off, absolutely too warm and comfortable in his arms not to.

“Abby?” he whispered. He sounded sleepy too and she simply hummed to signal she wasn’t yet asleep. “I love my life. After all I’ve done…”

“ _We_ ’ve done.” she corrected.

“ _I_ ’ve done.” he insisted. “How is that fair?”

She pressed a kiss against his neck, jealously digging her fingers in the flesh of his back. “Salvation comes at a price… That’s what you said. I think we paid it.”

He shook his head. “I’ll never be done paying it. We have to try and do better but… It still seems unfair.”

“Maybe that’s the point then.” she decided. “Maybe we _have_ to try and do better and _that’s_ how we pay the price of salvation. Maybe we try to build a chance at a future for our people, not just for _surviving_ but for _living_. I think we are on the good path. Redemption is a long road, Marcus.”

His lips brushed her temple, his beard scratching her skin in a pleasant way. “You’re my redemption. You showed me the way.”

She knew there would be no arguing because he wouldn’t accept any of her counter argument so she simply sighed and drew back enough to cup his cheek and rest her forehead against his.

“I love our life too.” she confessed. “And I don’t think it’s a crime. We _earned_ this. And now we will enjoy it.”

It wouldn’t always be easy. They needed to establish with the Grounders how living on Eden would work. They would need a new Charter, a better one. They would need protocols for the Gate Program she was sure Clarke would fight to be a part on – and would prompt more than one grey hair to appear on Abby’s head. They would need _a lot_ of things.

But as far _they_ were concerned…

They would be happy, she had no doubt of that.

The Ground had been a second chance.

Eden would be the start of a new era.

THE END.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s the end of the road, folks! Thank you for reading and leaving comments and likes! I may add some one shot to this universe in the future ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Did you like it? Did you hate it? Let me know!


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